Let Love In
by Beccabo
Summary: With a son to raise by herself & a new job as an Auror, Stacie Donovan's plate is full. But when Sirius Black begins sticking his nose into her business, Stacie's son suddenly decides that maybe they both need something more in their lives. AU Sirius/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Genre**: Romance/drama

**Tagline**: _"Sometimes what you've been searching for has been right in front of you all along."_

**Summary**: The last thing Stacie Donovan was looking for was love. With a ten year old son to raise by herself and a thriving new career as an Auror, her plate is as full as she wants it to be. And now the arrogant and infamous Sirius Black has joined the Aurors and is butting his sexy nose into all of her cases! But Stacie's son, Matt, seems to think that something is missing from both of their lives. And when Matt sets out to fill that void, they realize that they've lived for so long without a man in either of their lives that neither of them could admit how much they both need someone to depend on. And they also learn some interesting things about life, love, and the everlasting bonds of family and friendship.

* * *

**Chapter One**

"Matthew Rhys Donovan!"

The sleepy, ten year old boy slowly opened his dark, brown eyes and glanced at the digital alarm clock next to his bed.

7:20.

He groaned and burrowed back underneath his covers, pulling them up over his head and tried to drown out the sound of his mother's persistent voice.

No such luck.

"Matt! Get your lazy butt out of bed right now! You are going to miss the bus!"

The voice was closer this time and Matt knew that it would only be a matter of time before his mum was standing in his room, yelling at him to get up. But he was so tired...

"Matthew!"

She was standing right over him this time and before he could respond, he felt the warmth of his covers being jerked off of his snuggled up body.

"Mum!" He mumbled, grabbing for his pillow to cover his suddenly exposed head. "I'm tired."

But Mary Anastasia Donovan was not in the mood for her son's antics this morning. Grabbing the pillow from him and tossing it across the room, she reprimanded, "Then you should have gone to bed when I told you to last night instead of sneaking downstairs to watch the telly."

"No one in my year has to go to bed at 9:00." Matt mumbled, once again bringing up the bedtime that he believed was too strict. "It's stupid."

"No, this is stupid." Stacie remarked, moving across the room and ignoring the bedtime remark. She didn't have time to get into that argument with him this morning. Flicking her wand to open the wooden blinds on his bedroom windows and allowing the morning sunlight to wash over them both, she continued, "You are in your fifth year of school and have a perfectly good alarm sitting right there next to your bed. I should not have to come in here to get you out of bed..."

"So don't."

"You should be responsible enough to get yourself up and ready for school in the morning without me." Stacie continued, ignoring his mumbled remarks as she opened the blinds on a second window. The sunlight poured into his darkened bedroom and Matt groaned again as he covered his face with his hands. He listened as his mother moved around his room, but made no move to get up as he heard her walk into his adjoining bathroom and turn on the shower for him. He remained in his bed with his eyes closed as he heard her come back into his room and could feel her standing over him, but couldn't stop himself from opening one of his eyes to look up at her.

"I'm sick."

Putting her hands on her hips, she shot back, "Get up."

"I really am sick!" He protested, biting back a grin. He knew that excuse wouldn't work before the words were even out of his mouth. But it didn't stop him from trying. "Feel my head."

"I am not playing around, Mathewt." Stacie answered, glaring at him. "I have an important meeting at the Ministy this morning, so neither one of us can be late. Now, get up."

Matt laid there for another minute before he finally dragged his tired body up into the sitting position. Knowing that she would not leave his room until she saw him walk into the bathroom, he slowly stood up and said, "One of these mornings, I really am going to be sick." He trudged toward his bathroom door and remarked over his shoulder, "And then you're going to be sorry."

She shook her head at him and turned around to leave the room, muttering, "Just hurry up so you won't miss the bus."

"I won't miss the bus." He told her before shutting the bathroom door between them.

Twenty minutes later a freshly showered and fully awake Matt bounded down the hall into the kitchen of the flat he shared with his mother. Stacie was standing in front of the toaster, using it for a mirror as she hastily applied some pink lip gloss to her lips. Matt shook his head and remarked, "We have a hundred mirrors in this house and you have to do that here?"

"This lip-stick was down here in my bag." Stacie explained as he pulled open the cabinets in search of something to have for breakfast. "And this was the closest thing, so get off my case."

"_Get off my case_." Matt mimicked her as he opened another cabinet. Shaking his head again, he pulled out a bag and began opening it up.

"Crisps are not breakfast." Stacie scolded when she realized what he had chosen.

"It's all we have." He shot back, popping a stale snack into his mouth. When she frowned at him, he pulled open the cereal cabinet to reveal an empty space where the cereal and other breakfast items were supposed to be. "And even if we did have cereal, we probably don't have any milk." Matt moved over to the refrigerator and opened the door to prove his point. "See? I drank the last of it last night."

"I'm sorry, mate." Stacie apologized quickly. "I forgot to go to the market."

"That's what you said yesterday." He muttered before popping another crisp into his mouth. Then he asked, "What about lunch?"

"What about it?"

"Did you make me any?"

"I put twenty five dollars on your school lunch account last week." Stacie reminded him, pouring herself a cup of tea. "Eat lunch at school."

Matt scowled at his mum and reminded her, "It's Thursday. They serve fish sticks on Thursday."

"So?"

"I hate fish sticks."

"You do not." Stacie chided, stirring some lemon into her tea. "You love fish."

"I like fish...fried fish, grilled fish, and even that fish stew you make...but I do not like fish sticks." Matt protested, wrinkling up his freckled little nose.

"Well," Stacie countered, checking her reflection in the toaster again, "don't they serve other things in the cafeteria, too?"

Matt quickly checked the menu that was hanging on the refrigerator and then said, "Peanut butter and jelly. I don't like their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches...they put too much peanut butter on them."

"What about salads?" Matt screwed up his nose again and his mother laughed as she said lightly, "Well, you'll survive. Now go get your booksack before you miss your bus."

"I won't miss my bus." Matt said for the second time that morning. "Did you sign my permission slip?"

"Permission slip?" Stacie asked absently. Her mind was definitely elsewhere this morning.

"Mum!" Matt cried in exasperation. "My permission slip! To go to the museum. It's due today."

"I thought we already did that."

"You gave me the money but forgot to sign the permission slip." Matt reminded her, digging around in his booksack for the half-sheet of paper in question. "Mr. Byrnes says I can't go without a parent signature...whether I paid or not."

"Well, that doesn't seem fair." Stacie said, glancing at the clock on the stove. "Okay...give it to me and I'll sign it now."

Matt rolled his eyes and shoved the permission slip across the counter to her. He watched as she scanned it and then signed her name at the bottom before handing it back to him. Kissing him on the forehead, she said hurriedly, "Okay...you're all set. Now get out to that bus stop before you miss your bus."

"I am not going to miss my bus." He grumbled as he pulled on his jacket and headed out the door.

"Have a good day at school!" Stacie called after him as he closed the door behind him. "I love you!"

She thought she heard him mutter a response, but she didn't have time to think twice about it. Stacie and the Aurors staff were being introduced to the legendary Sirius Black this morning at a meeting with the Minister of Magie and she couldn't be late. As a new Auror and graduate of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Stacie knew all about the reputation of Sirius Black. She was just starting her first year at Hogwarts when Sirius and his friends were in their seventh, so their paths had never crossed. But every female witch in every year knew about the handsome prankster and Stacie remembered listening with great interest whenever any of the other Hufflepuff girls regaled her with stories about a time they crossed his path. She had never truly believed the stories she had heard about him betraying James and Lily Potter and turning to the dark side...Stacie remembered how close that group of friends were and was convinced it couldn't have all been an act.

When Sirius' name was vindicated by James' son, Harry, a few years ago, Stacie remembered feeling a certain amount of pride that she had never truly bought into the _'Sirius Black was a murderer'_ philosophy that had enveloped the wizarding world. And when it was revealed that Harry Potter was in fact Sirius' godchild and the pair worked together to bring down Lord Voldemort, Stacie and the other Aurors were convinced that Sirius Black would come in and turn the Auror department upside down. But since the fall of Voldemort, he had been busy training a new class of Aurors in some secret location and today would be the first time she had actually met the man behind the name. If things went as she suspected they would today, Harry and Sirius would be joining the Auror department and Stacie would be working very closely with both of them.

Stacie flicked her wand to set her kitchen back to it's usual neat and orderly condition and then grabbed her coat. Just as she was about to Apparate out of the kitchen, she was interrupted by the sound of the back door opening. She looked up to see her son walking back into the kitchen.

"Don't tell me..." she said with a frown.

Matt looked up at his mother with a sheepish grin on his face and informed her, "I missed the bus."


	2. Chapter 2

**_If you feel a little lost in the midst of Matt and Stacie's conversation and feel like you have questions about Matt's father and Stacie's past...GOOD!! More will be revealed in future chapters...hopefully giving some insight into Stacie and Matt. _**

**_For those of you who liked Maggie from The Lives We Touch, I'm hoping you'll like Stacie just as well. So, here's a little more on this new character I'm asking you to embrace..._**

**_Enjoy!_**

* * *

**Chapter Two**

"Come on, people."

Stacie impatiently tapped her fingers on the steering wheel of her red Ford Fiesta and silently swore at the line of traffic sitting in front of her. She knew this would happen. There was always a line of parents outside the Woodside Park International School to drop off their kids in the morning and she was stuck in the middle of the chaos.

Matt, sitting in the front seat and playing with the radio, simply smirked up at his mother as she continued to complain to herself, "Just open the door and let the kid get out of the car. What is so hard about that? What could possibly be taking so long?"

"Does it make them go faster when you mutter at them?" Matt finally asked, grinning up at her.

"No," she shot back at him with a grin, "but it makes me feel better." Reaching over to muss his hair, she added, "Who is the parent here, anyway?"

"Parent?" Matt asked sarcastically. "You're more like a raving lunatic this morning."

"And you're stuck with me."

"Lucky me." He added, rolling his eyes at her. It was in moments like these that he reminded Stacie so much of his father. Changing the subject, he asked, "So what is your big meeting all about?"

"Sirius Black and Hary Potter are joining the Aurors today." Stacie told him with a scowl. "And Kingsley Shackelbolt is pulling out all the stops to make them feel 'welcome'. We're having a meet-and-greet type thing and everyone who is not working on something else is required to attend." Stacie moved her car up an inch as she added dryly, "When I joined the Aurors, all I got was a cup of tea and a biscuit from Tonks."

"But I thought that Sirius Black and Harry Potter saved the wizarding world from Lord Voldemort?" Matt asked, shock painting his face as he looked up at his mother. "It would be an honor for you to work with them!"

"Now you sound a bit like the Minister of Magic," Stacie muttered without thinking, looking out her windshield to see what the possible hold up could be.

Matt grinned at her again and then asked, "So, they're better than you and you're jealous?"

"Of course they're better than me!" Stacie snapped, moving her car forward another inch. "While they were busy saving people from Death Eaters and risking their lives for all of wizardkind, I was studying potions at Hogwarts or changing your dirty nappies!"

"You had me while you were at Hogwarts?" Matt asked in confusion, "I thought..."

"No...I'm talking about the two different times the Order of the Phoenix rose up against Lord Voldemort. The first time I was still in school and this last time I promised your father that I would stay home and take care of you while he fought against the Death Eaters."

At the mention of his father, Matt suddenly got very quiet and looked down at his hands. There was an awkward silence that enveloped the car before the ten year old finally asked, "So, Sirius Black is a jerk?"

"Probably." Stacie said without thinking.

"You mean, you haven't met him?" Matt asked, looking at his mother curiously. "Then how do you know anything about him?"

"I went to school with him. He was older than me, but he was famous even back then." She paused and then said, "And he knew your father..."

"Did he think that dad was a Death Eater?"

"I don't know." Stacie answered quietly, reaching out to stroke his cheek. "It was a crazy time and no one knew who to trust. Most people thought that Sirius Black was a Death Eater and a murderer for a long time, so I would hope that he wasn't someone who jumped to conclusions about your dad. But then again, Harry Potter is his godson and he was very loyal to Harry's father, James, so he probably didn't put his faith in too many people..."

Stacie's voice trailed off for a moment before she sighed and continued, "But, I know his type. I've been working at the Ministry enough to know that you don't get to be as infamous as this guy is supposed to be without being an arrogant son of a b-..." she stopped when she realized what she was about to say and then simply said, "...jerk. An arrogant jerk."

But Matt was no dummy. His grin told her he knew exactly what she was going to say, but instead of calling her on it, he said, "But Tonks is not a jerk. And she is one of the best Aurors that the department has. You say so all the time."

"No, she's not a jerk." Stacie conceded, looking again at her son. "And she is a fabulous Auror. She taught me everything I know."

"Well, then maybe Sirius Black isn't either." Matt concluded.

She loved his ten year old logic. And she also knew when she had been put in her place.

"Maybe he won't be." Stacie agreed. "I should give him a chance, shouldn't I?"

Matt nodded and grinned at her as his mother sighed again and said, "I guess I don't handle change well, Matty. I had just gotten so used to working with everyone at the Ministry and we've developed such a good working relationship...and now I have to get used to this new guy. And he's smart and powerful and famous and I'm afraid that he's going to come in and change everthing."

_And then tell me that I'm not good enough to be working alongside him and the famous Harry Potter_, Stacie added silently in her head. There are some fears you simply don't confide to a ten year old boy who adores you.

"Moving back to London from New York last year was a big change." Matt reminded her and then added, "And that turned out okay."

"Yes, it did." she agreed. Smiling at him, she asked him, "How did you get to be such a good kid?"

He shrugged off her compliment and reached down to get his booksack when he saw that they were approaching the drop off spot.

"Thanks for the ride, mum." Matt said as he opened the car door.

"Anytime kid." Stacie replied, leaning over to receive the kiss he planted on her cheek. "Do you think you can manage to be on time for the bus to go home?"

Matt screwed up his face at her sarcasm and said, "I'm not riding the bus home. I have football club practice today after school and Elijah's mum is picking us up at 5:00."

"Right." Stacie said, remembering the day's schedule. "Well, have a good day at school and a good practice. I love you."

"I love you, too." He said, hopping out of the car. "Sorry if I made you late for your meeting."

Stacie waved as he ran up the sidewalk toward the Junior Department of The Woodside Park International School and then somehow managed to maneuver her car to the exit of the parking lot without running into anyone. As a Muggle-born witch with close ties to her family, Stacie made the decision to raise her son as a Muggle until it was time to send him off to Howarts. She knew that it wasn't a popular decision within the wizarding world, but Stacie Donovan had never been the type of woman to let society dictate her choices. Which meant that Stacie herself had to live in the Muggle world while working for the Ministry of Magic and equip herself and Matt with the latest Muggle technologies...like a car, a telly, and a cellular phone. Picking up her cell phone, she dialed her sister's number and waited for Lindsay to pick up.

"Where are you?" Lindsay demanded when she picked up on her end of the phone line. "I thought we were going out to breakfast this morning before you had to be at work."

"And good morning to you, too." Stacie chirped as she joined the line of cars waiting to exit the parking lot onto the main road that led to the Ministry. "Matt missed the bus and I had to bring him to school. Why don't you let me make it up to you by cooking you dinner tonight?"

"Roast chicken?" Stacie's younger sister asked hopefully.

"Anything you want." Stacie giggled. "Why don't you come around about 6:30? And bring that new boyfriend you've been telling me about."

"Shall I bring dessert?"

"Now I remember why I love you so much." Stacie answered with a grin. "Dessert would be wonderful. Anything chocolate...you know me." Switching her cell phone to her other ear, Stacie asked, "Have you checked in on mum and dad recently?"

"Saw them day before last when I brought Jasper around to meet them." Lindsay said, referring to her new man of the moment. Stacie could hear the smile in her sister's voice as she added, "Dad approved, mum did not. Same old story."

"Awwww." Stacie teased. "What did she find wrong with this one?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. His hair was too long, she didn't like the fact that he's a musician and..."

"Shit!"

As Stacie pulled out of the school parking lot, she instantly felt her car collide with something. Pulling off to the side of the road, she muttered into her phone, "Linds, I've gotta go. See you tonight." Closing her phone and looking in her driver's side mirror at the beat up old motorbike that had pulled off right beside her, Stacie got out of the car in a huff as she muttered, "Damn. This is all I need today."

A tall, dark haired man climbed off the ancient motorbike...looking just as pissed off as Stacie felt...and walked toward her with his jaw set in anger.

"Don't you look where you're going?" Stacie demanded, walking right up to the man and realizing that she only came up to his chest. Raising her chin to look into his face, she added, "You drove right into me!"

The tall man had no patience for the little spitfire in front of him and asked incredulously, "I hit you? I don't think so!" Gesturing to the point of impact between their two vehicles, he said, "You pulled right out of that parking lot without looking!"

"I did not!" Stacie shot back indignantly.

"Well if you weren't so busy talking on your Muggle phone and fixing your make-up, then you'd remember what just happened." He said angrily. "You pulled out..."

"Talking on my phone and fixing my make-up?" Stacie repeated in anger. "Is that some sort of sexist remark?"

"No." He said dryly. "It's an observation."

Stacie followed his gaze and felt her cheeks turn a bright shade of pink as she realized that her cellular phone was still in her hand. Pursing her lips, she said lamely, "Well, I wasn't fixing my make-up."

"Obviously." He shot back, taking a moment to look at her.

That remark rubbed her the wrong way. What the hell did he mean by that?

Furiously, she snapped, "Well, you know what...there's nothing like meeting a gentleman."

"Or," he quipped at her snidely, "you could say...running into one."

"Great." Stacie shot back at him. "You're a smart-ass on top of everything else. I already have one of those in my life, thank you very much. But he's ten...what's you're excuse?"

The owner of the motorbike stared hard at her before Stacie swore she saw the corners of his mouth turn up into a bit of a half smile. He shook his head at her and then went to survey the damage done to both of their vehicles.

"Look," he said, examining the front bumper of his bike, "let's just forget this ever happened, okay? I'm late..."

"Well so am I!" she exclaimed, not believing the audacity of this man. "But I am also the daughter of a high ranking member of the Metropolitan Police Service and I know better than to leave the scene of an accident."

"Lady," he said, running a frustrated hand through his hair as he scowled at her, "there is no damage to your car! So, why don't you just quit while you're ahead? My bike is fine, your car is fine and we're both late. So let's just get back in our 'fine' vehicles and get away from each other?"

"Fine!" Stacie spat at him, marching back to the driver's side of her car. As she watched him pull away ahead of her, she muttered to herself, "What else can possibly go wrong today?"


	3. Chapter 3

**_So here is the inevitable "first" meeting..._**

**_

* * *

_**

Chapter Three

"Cream, sugar, and a touch of cinnamon...just how the girl who lived in New York for too long likes it."

Stacie smiled for the first time since leaving Matt at school as Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin handed her a steaming cup of coffee. Wrapping her hands around the warm cup, she took a sip of the hot liquid and relaxed as she felt the coffee slide down her throat.

"You don't look so good, Stace." Tonks observed with a frown and turned to walk toward the Auror's office. "I didn't know the parking lot of the Woodside School was so emotionally draining."

Stacie smirked as she fell in step with her friend on the short walk to her office and said, "The parking lot was only the beginning of the story. As I turned onto the Main Street, some jerk plowed his motorbike right into me."

"Are you okay?" The pink haired woman asked, suddenly alarmed.

"I'm fine." Stacie assured her with a smile as they reached her office door as she added, "And so is the car."

"Was Matt already out of the car?"

Stacie moved over to her desk as Tonks switched on the light and said, "Yes, thank Merlin. He wasn't anywhere near the accident. Which is a double blessing, since I put on quite a performance with the other driver."

"What happened?" Tonks asked as she sunk herself into one of the armchairs facing Stacie's desk.

"He was just a jerk." Stacie said, shuffling through the mail that she had removed from the mailbox on her door. "First he accused me of being a bad driver and not watching where I was going because I was talking on my cell phone and checking my make-up."

"Um, Stace," her best friend began as a smirk started to play on her lips, "you have been known to drive and talk on your cellular phone..."

"I know." Stacie snapped, as if she were disciplining Matt instead of talking to her best friend since Hogwarts. "But I can do two things at once. And, for your information, I did look before I pulled out of the school parking lot. Mr. Motorbike came flying out of nowhere."

"Did the motorbike survive?"

"Thankfully there was no damage to either vehicle." Stacie finally sat down in her desk chair and picked up her coffee as she added, "Although it looked like it had been on it's last legs for many years now."

"So what was this jerk's name?"

Stacie shrugged as she took another sip of her coffee and Tonks exclaimed, "You didn't exchange information with the creep?"

"He was late, I was late," Stacie replied nonchalantly, "and since there was no damage, we simply insulted each other and took off. Frankly, I was glad to get rid of him."

"He insulted you?"

"He made a smart-ass remark about my make-up." Stacie said with a grin. "It was all very adult."

Lindsay chuckled and prompted, "And your response was..."

"I think I called hin a smart ass or something equally as charming." Stacie shrugged again and added, "And I think he might have been a wizard because he called my phone a Muggle phone. And something about him was very familiar..."

"Good morning, ladies."

Both Tonks and Stacie turned and smiled at Gawain Robards as he poked his head into their office and smiled warmly at them.

"Hi, Gawain." Tonks chirped. "Come on in and sit with us. Kingsley said the meeting is going to start a little late."

"Apparently," Stacie drawled as the Head Auror moved into the office and took a seat in the chair next to her, "our new wizarding guru was a little late for his private meeting with the Ministry and has now thrown us all off schedule."

"The nerve of some people." Gawain mused, grinning at Stacie.

"You seem to be in pretty good spirits today, Gawain." Stacie teased, returning his grin. "Considering you are about to be thrown under the bus for Sirius Black, who apparently has come down from on high to walk among us mere mortal Aurors."

Tonks chuckled at her friend's assessment of the new Auror and said, "Can I tell you a secret?"

"You're plotting to murder Black so that Gawain can maintain his place as the Ministry's Head Auror?" Stacie guessed with a glint in her eye. She had really grown quite fond of Gawain Roberts in the last year and he had taken her under his wing to guide her along through her new career. "There's this nasty rumor going around that I used to run with the Death Eaters and could call in a favor on your behalf..."

"No, thank you." Gawain laughed at his young colleagues. "But I appreciate the sentiment."

"Are you sure?" Stacie asked, feeling the stress of her morning 'run-in' beginning to melt away. "Because some people believe that..."

"Stop!" Gawain laughed again, shaking his head. He adored these girls. He looked over at Tonks and asked, "So, do you want to tell us this secret or not?"

"Sirius Black is my cousin," Tonks informed them. "And one of Remus' oldest and dearest friends. So, we have an in with the new big shot."

Stacie frowned in disbelief and quickly ran through her head what she may have said about Sirius Black in front of Tonks. Her frown grew in size when she realized it wasn't anything good.

"Tonks." Stacie breathed, as she was the first one to regain her composure. "I'm sorry. We've been joking about him all week and had no idea that he was your cousin. We've been pretty rotten." Looking over at Gawain, who was not being any help, Stacie added lamely. "But, in our defense, we thought he was coming here to take Gawain's job away. We had no idea that he was your your cousin. Wait a minute..." she said suddenly, blinking rapidly, "Why didn't I have any idea that he was your cousin? We've known each other since we were eleven year old Hufflepuffs."

"Well, Sirius and I didn't know each other that well when I was at Hogwarts. Our parents were not close and he was in Azkaban for most of my life." Tonks reminded her friend. "But we became chums when Harry cleared his name and I joined the Order of the Phoenix." Looking at Stacie skeptically, she added, "He was the best man at my wedding to Remus."

"I was out of the country for your wedding." Stacie reminded her quickly, looking down at her coffee cup.

"Oh right," Tonks replied, then asked, "At Remus' burial...?"

"Still out of the country." Stacie repeated again, shifting uncomfortably.

Stacie could feel Tonks looking at her but she continued to study her coffee cup as the pink haired witch finally said, "Yes, right. I keep forgetting how different our lives were back then. It was like another life."

_You can say that again_, Stacie thought silently and then finally looked up to study her colleague for a moment before she smiled and said, "Well, as much as I am dreading having to work with someone new...I am really happy for you, Tonks. It's nice to have family around. Especially someone who knew and loved Remus."

Tonks smiled in agreement as Stacie added, "But tell me...just how big of a pain in the arse is he?"

"Big." Tonks told her with a wink. "But don't worry...I've told him all about you."

"You have?" Stacie asked in surprise as her friends laughed at her reaction.

"Of course...when he and Harry came 'round to dinner last week to check in on Teddy."

"Everything?" Stacie asked skeptically.

"Everything that is important." Tonks assured her, patting her hand gently. "He and Harry were curious about the Aurors they'd be working with and were not familiar with your name. So I told them that you had only been with the department a year, but were a smart and talented witch." Winking, Tonks added, "What I didn't tell him was how beautiful you are because my old cousin is quite the ladies man. I hope that he'll be able to stay focused with you around..."

Before Stacie could respond to Tonks' sweet compliments, there was another knock on the office door beofe Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt stepped into the room and said, "So, this is where the party is this morning."

"I'm sorry, Minister Shacklebolt." Stacie apologized, standing up quickly. "We had heard that the meeting was delayed so we..."

"I'm not here to scold you, Auror Donovan." The Minister said warmly, smiling at her. "I was just showing my old friend Sirius around before the meeting and thought that he should meet the rest of the Aurors. I expect that you will be working on quite a few cases together."

"Oh, okay." Stacie said, feeling foolish for thinking that they were all about to be in trouble.

"Sirius?" Kingsley turned around and motioned to the person behind him, who was still standing out in the hallway. "I would like you to meet, Aurors Stacie Donovan and Gawain Robards. And of course you already know Nymphadora..."

When Sirius Black stepped into the office for the first time, Stacie's face fell and before she could stop herself, she heard herself mutter, "Oh Merlin...no."

Kingsley, Gawain, and Tonks all immediately took their attention off of Sirius and turned to look at Stacie. Sirius, meanwhile, recovered from his initial shock and was suddenly smirking down at her.

Sirius Black was the man from the accident outside of Matt's school.

"Stacie?" The Minister asked, concern on his face. "Is there something wrong?"

Realizing that she must have looked and sounded ridiculous, Stacie quickly put on her professional face and replied, "No, I'm sorry. I was just surprised to see him, that's all."

"Do the two of you know each other?" Tonks asked, looking at her friend in surprise.

"Not exactly." Stacie muttered, avoiding Sirius' eyes. "You could say that we..."

Sirius spoke up, his eyes twinkling as he was clearly enjoying Stacie's embarrassment, "...ran into each other this morning."

Tonks looked across the desk at her and mouthed the words, "_Mr. Motorbike_?"

Stacie nodded at her friend and then looked up at Sirius. Pasting a fake smile on her face, she held out her hand and said, "But we were never formally introduced. Mr. Black, I am Stacie Donovan."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Donovan." Sirius returned with a smirk as he shook her outstretched hand. "But I must admit that after our first meeting this morning, I never would have expected you to be the rookie Auror who I have heard such good things about."

And just as he had this morning with the make-up comment, Sirius Black worked his way under her skin. Pursing her lips and trying to remain calm, Stacie asked smugly, "And why is that, Mr. Black?"

Tonks, recognizing the antagonistic tone in her best friend's voice, took the opportunity to step up at that moment and save her cousin from saying something they would all regret by asking loudly, "Mr. Black? What's with all the Mr. Black stuff. Just call him Sirius, right old chap?"

Sirius tore his eyes away from Stacie and swallowed whatever nasty words were sitting on the tip of his tongue. Turning his charming smile to Gawain, he asked, "Robards? Didn't I just hear that name somewhere recently?"

"My wife," Gawain answered, looking at Stacie curiously, "Luella Robards is with the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. Maybe you met her this morning?"

"Ah yes," Sirius drawled, oozing with charm, "I'm sure that it will be a pleasure to work with you both." Gawain bit back a grin of pride as Sirius slid his eyes back to Stacie and said, "And what about your husband, Ms. Donovan? Is he a member of the Ministry of Magic, as well?"

"I'm not married."

"Really?" Sirius asked in mock surprise and then added nastily, "Well, I almost find that hard to believe. Don't tell me that not one man in London has been taken in by your obvious charm?"

Stacie drew in a deep breath and was about to fire back at his insult when Kingsley wisely stepped in and asked, "So what do you think of the changes we've made so far in the Auror Department, Sirius?"

Never taking his eyes off Stacie, Sirius answered his old friend, "Oh, I already have a feeling that I am going to like it here."


	4. Chapter 4

**_I obviously have no idea how Jo invisioned the inner workings of the Ministry of Magic to go about their daily business, but I just imagined that it was like any other place of business...gossip between co-workers, playful banter, etc. So, I hope you like my little peek into the Auror's office..._**

* * *

**Chapter Four**

_One week later..._

"Are they arguing again?"

Gawain Robards glanced up from the paperwork he was going over at his desk and rolled his eyes at Tonks and Hermione Granger as the two witches approached him. Knowing the _'them'_ that Hermione was referring to were Sirius and Stacie, he grimaced and explained, "Someone made the mistake of assigning them both to the Hennessey inquiry."

"They really can't stand each other." Ron Weasley mused, shaking his head as he joined the group gathering outside the door to his office. Ron had joined the Aurors with Sirius and Harry and had become quite popular with most of the staff already. Grinning, he slung his arm over Hermione's shoulder and added, "They have barely spoken a civil word to each other since they started working together."

"Actually," Tonks corrected her young friend with a grin, "I think they like each other more than either one of them wants to admit."

"Like each other?" Ron asked in surprise. "They drive each other crazy!"

"Exactly." Tonks said with laugh. "That's how it always starts."

"Sound familiar?" Hermione teased her boyfriend, smiling up at him coyly. Hermione had joined the Ministry's Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures soon after graduating from Hogwarts and was steadily climbing up the career ladder in a short time. Everyone was very interested to see the small changes that had come over the usually straight-laced Miss Granger when her boyfriend, Ron, began working as an Auror. She began spending most of her lunch and tea breaks up in the Aurors office and the consesus was that the newest Ministry couple was completely adorable.

But before anyone could say anything else, the door to Sirius's office opened and Stacie Donovan slammed out into the hallway.

"Heavens to Merlin, you are so infuriating!" she hissed at Sirius as he stormed out of the room behind her. Tonks and Hermione stifled their giggles as the pair approached the group and Stacie handed Gawain the folder she was carrying.

Gawain rolled his eyes and whispered, "And here we go again."

"Here are my notes on the Hennessey inquiry." The frazzled Auror said sharply, obviously annoyed but yet completely ignoring Gawain's sarcastic comment and the giggles of her friends. "Would you please..."

"Were you even listening to me in there?" Sirius interrupted, catching up to where Stacie and the others were standing.

"Yes." Stacie replied, not bothering to look up from one of the files she had picked up from her mailbox and was busy studying.

"What was the last thing I said?"

Without missing a beat, Stacie replied, "The last thing you said was: _Were you even listening to me in there?" _

The witches again turned away to conceal their grins as Sirius shook his head in frustration and tried again. "Okay, so you were listening to me, but you're not understanding me..."

Finally Stacie looked up from her chart and turned around to face him. "No," she said in an agitated voice, "I'm _disagreeing_ with you. That doesn't mean I'm not listening to you or understanding what you're saying - I'm doing all three at the same time. Listening, understanding, and disagreeing."

"The evidence from the raid clearly indicates..." Sirius began stating his case again, but Stacie interrupted him.

"Mr. Black, I'm going to make a suggestion which might help you out while you're getting settled around here." Stacie told him in a haughty voice, as if she were completely unaware of Sirius' reputation. "But I don't want this to be mistaken for an indication that I like you or that you and I are friends. Okay?"

"Enlighten me, rookie Auror Donovan." the Animagus mocked, crossing his arms over his chest as the frustration on his face melted into an amused smirk.

"As much as it kills you to do so," Stacie informed him, ignoring the fact that he was humoring her in the same way that Matt did when he was being cute, "sometimes you have to allow for the possibility that other people are at least as smart as you are. One of those people happens to be me. Another one of those people happens to be Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Minister of Magic. And he and I both agree that the evidence from the Hennessey raid doesn't need any further investigation. Nothing sinister was recovered and the family has been cleared of any wrong doing. End of story." She snapped her file closed and finished with a glare, "You lost. Deal with it."

"I've heard that the busty, red-headed witch from the Department of Magical Transportaion is really good at helping wizards _deal_ with their problems." Harry joked, coming up behind his godfather and joining the conversation with a smirk. Crossing his arms as he looked at Sirius, he suggested, "Why don't you go and find her...since you are obviously not going to have to go out and arrest Finnegan Hennessey."

"I've heard that he's already found her." Stacie added sarcastically, smiling gratefully up at Harry. Unlike his godfather, she had liked the young Mr. Potter upon first meeting. "On Wednesday, was it? Or was Wednesday the blond from the Wizengamot? Because I think that Thursday was Jenna from the Office of Magical Law Enforcement's turn."

"The two of you are very funny." Sirius drawled, eyeing the pair of Aurors warily. "The Ministry's own version of that Muggle comedy team...Abbott and Costello, is it?"

"We're not being funny." Harry said innocently.

"You have developed a real...um...reputation...with the female staff around here, Sirius." Hermione quipped with a smirk, joining in on the fun. "In a very short amount of time."

The rest of the group grinned as Sirius wheeled around and glared at the young Miss Granger. "Are you here again? Don't you have your own office full of people to annoy?"

"I'm on my break." Hermione shot back defensively.

Turning on Harry, Sirius demanded, "And since when do you take her side against your own godfather?"

"She's prettier." Harry joked, grinning at Stacie. "And doesn't smell like wet dog."

"She's just jealous," Sirius hedged, turning his attentions back to Stacie.

"Of what?"

"Of all the attention I am paying to the other female members of the Ministry staff." He drawled, leaning on the counter next to Stacie and watching her ignore him. "I mean, it has to be tough to know that you are one of the few..."

"One of the few witches that hasn't had to deal with your annoying come-ons?" Stacie asked, putting down her file and glaring at him. "No, Mr. Black, I am not jealous of that. In fact, if you would pay less attention to me and my caseload...I would be much happier."

"Happier than what?" He asked dryly. "I don't think I've seen you crack a smile since I've been here."

"I guess there isn't much about you that makes me smile." Stacie shot back, snapping another file closed and putting it down.

As she reached for the last file in the pile, Sirius beat her to it and held it up above her head. Looking up at him and the file, Stacie shook her head in disgust as she said, "Auror Black, I graduated from Hogwarts a long time ago. So I don't have time for these little games of yours. If other witches in this building think that they're cute, then go play with them and leave me alone."

Sirius was about to say something else when Gawain reached up and grabbed the file from his hand and gave it back to Stacie. Shaking his head, he told him, "The Minister needs to see you and Potter in his office right away, Black." Handing him another file, he added, "Now, go!"

"And I thought you were the fun one." Sirius said to the tall Auror with a smirk. "Be careful, Robards...if you spend too much time around Miss Sourpuss over there, she might rub off on you." Shooting another pointed look at Stacie, he added, "And one of her around here is more than enough."

As he walked away with Harry hot on his heels, Tonks could not contain her laughter any longer. She laughed so hard that she had to steady herself on the desk with her free hand. Stacie, completely oblivious to how ridiculous she and Sirius were acting, looked over at her friend in surprise and asked, "What?"

Tonks was still laughing herself silly, so Hermione supplied, "You two are hysterical, do you know that? Like a couple of pouty teen-agers whose hormones are on overdrive."

"His hormones are always..."

"Whatever." Gawain interrupted, dismissing any protest Stacie was going to mount with a wave of his hand. He picked up his stack of files and said, "I have work to do. Do you think you and Black could remember for a moment that this is a Ministry and not a nursery?"

"A Nursery?" Stacie asked Hermione, who simply shrugged in response as they watched Gawain walk away.

"Well, you and Sirius are acting like children." Tonks informed her. "If you're not arguing over a case, you're arguing over a magical procedure or the last banana in the mess hall. It's getting a little ridiculous." Sympathetically, Tonks put a hand on Stacie's arm and asked, "What is going on with you? He's actually a pretty nice guy, but you are not giving him a chance at all."

"He is not a nice guy!" Stacie snapped, a little louder than she had expected. "He is...as you even predicted he would be...a pain in my arse. We're always arguing because he's always being such a jerk. He second guesses my opinions, he tries to steal my cases without checking with me, and acts as if Muggle-born witches don't even deserve to be in the same building as the almighty Sirius Black."

"That's not true." Hermione said automatically. "Sirius has never been like the rest of his family...he doesn't distinguish between purebloods or half-breeds or Muggle-borns." She shrugged and continued, "He has a reputation that preceded him nere and he's trying to live up to it. I mean, he's come into a hostile environment and has to deal with Aurors who thought that Gawain deserved to be the Head Auror instead of him, and he is trying to prove that he didn't get his position here because he is Harry Potter's godfather or friends with the Minister of Magic."

"I doubt that," Stacie snorted, as she rolled her eyes in disgust at Hermione's defense of Sirius. "He is the infamous Sirius Black...he doesn't need to prove anything to anyone."

"Well, he did sit in Azkaban for a long while before he jumped right into The Final Battle against Lord Voldemort." Ron added. "Now that there' s mainly peace and harmony out there, he's probably feeling bored and a little useless. We all are."

"Well, trying to talk the Minister into raids that aren't necessary should not be a cure for his boredom." Stacie said sourly. "And it was his decision to become an Auror...so all the baggage that comes with this job is his to deal with. It's not my problem."

"He is dealing, Stace." Tonks reminded her. "And you're not exactly innocent in this. You are still peeved about the accident last week...which is quite strange, actually."

"Yes, Stacie," Hermione chimed in. "You are usually the first person around to give someone a break when they are having a rough time. Why is Sirius so different?"

Stacie slumped her shoulders and nodded as she said, "I don't know." The young Auror shook her head and leaned against the wall as she continued, "He just rubs me the wrong way, I guess. I think I am overdosing on Sirius Black. I try to ignore him, but he's always there. Up in my face, up in my business, and sticking his nose into my cases. Even when he's not there...he's there. I mean, I don't want to talk about him, but he seems to be a popular topic of conversation with everyone at the Ministry. In line in the Mess Hall I have to hear about how gorgeous he is, in the break room I have to hear about how amazing he was in some battle against the Death Eaters, in the elevator I have to listen to some bimbo's discuss what a good kisser he is..."

"Well, he is cute. And he has done some amazing things in battle," Hermione reasoned with a grin as Ron scowled beside her. "Now, I don't know about the kissing part...but when you find out, let us know how good it is."

Stacie threw her pen in Hermione's direction and as the younger witch ducked, she said, "I am not planning on kissing him. As you just heard...I'm not his type." Giving Tonks a sly look, Stacie added dryly, "I have a brain."

"So, you _are_ jealous." Ron surmised with a grin.

"I am not!"

"Then why did it bother you when he said that you were one of the few witches he wasn't flirting with?"

"It didn't bother me." Stacie repeated. "I was just saying that..."

"It doesn't matter anyway." Tonks interrupted, looking at Ron and Hermione. "Because he is flirting with her. It's just not the way he's flirting with everyone else."

"Flirting with me?" Stacie asked in surprise. "He's annoying me, not flirting with me."

"It's his way of flirting with you." Tonks told her matter-of-factly. "You're the only Auror whose cases he noses around in, whose office he hangs around, and whose inquiries he talks to the Minister about. He knows that his superficial nonsense isn't going to work with you, so he gets you to pay attention to him by annoying the shit out of you."

"And I am playing right into his hands." Stacie moaned, burying her face in her hands.

Tonks nodded in agreement and then told her friend, "The universe may not always play fair, but at least it's got a hell of a sense of humor."

"But does the joke always have to be at my expense?" Stacie asked dejectedly.

"Don"t worry, mate," Tonks consoled her friend as she prepared to head back to her office, "I have this gut feeling that things are going to start going your way very soon."

"Thanks." Stacie said, managing to flash a half-smile at her friend.

"Auror Donovan!"

Stacie and the group turned around just in time to see Arthur Weasely hurrying toward them. "Stacie, hold on." Coming up to the group, he said breathlessly, "I just got a call on my Muggle phone from your sister."

"Lindsay called here?" Stacie asked in concern, knowing that she gave her sister the number of the only Muggle phone at the Ministry in case of emergencies. "What's wrong?"

"She wanted me to tell you that you need to go down to the school and get Matt."

"Why?"

Arthur looked down at the young Auror and said sympathetically, "Because he started a food fight in the cafeteria."

"My Matty?" Tonks asked in surprise, shocked to hear that they were talking about her beloved godson. "My Matty started a food fight?"

"No," Stacie said as she pursed her lips in anger, "_my_ Matty did." Glancing over at Tonks, she asked pointedly, "So tell me, Tonks...is this an example of how things are going to start going my way?"


	5. Chapter 5

_**Here you go, Kriti! I wouldn't want you to explode!!**_

* * *

_**Chapter Five**_

_An hour later..._

When the elevator doors opened, Stacie stormed out into the Auror's office area with a dejected Matt trailing right behind her. One look at the little boy's face told everyone that they didn't want to mess with Stacie Donovan at that moment.

"Just sit right there." Stacie demanded, pointing at the couches in the reception area. "I am going to find a Healer so that we can sew up your lip and reduce the swelling on that eye." With her hands on her hips, she added with a glare, "And then you are going to explain to me how this food fight you started turned into an all out brawl that ended with you sitting in the Headmaster's office with a black eye and a split lip."

"Mum..."

"What?" Stacie snapped, her anger blaring in her eyes.

Whatever Matt was going to say, he changed his mind quickly. Lowering his eyes to the floor, he mumbled, "Can I get a juice or something? I'm thirsty."

"Well maybe you should have thought about that before you sent your container of milk flying across the cafeteria."

"I said I was sorry." He mumbled again, still not looking up at her.

"We are way beyond sorry, pal." Stacie told him sharply. "You got yourself thrown out of school for the rest of the day and I have no idea what I am going to do with you."

Matt wisely chose not to say anything and instead started to play with the edges of the ice-pack that had been given to him at the school nurse's office. Stacie's expression softened a bit as she took another long look at her son's face and then said, "Go get something to drink and come right back here. I'm not kidding. Don't play around or start wandering into people's offices...everyone is working."

As Stacie headed off to find a Healer, Matt slowly wandered back toward the Auror's lounge. When he pushed open the door, he noticed that the only person sitting in there was one he didn't recognize and so he didn't say anything. When the dark haired wizard looked up at him and raised his eyebrow at the condition of his face, Matt quickly looked away and walked over to the soda machines across the room and hit the button for a cherry cola.

But nothing happened.

Matt pushed the button again but his soda still didn't arrive. He pushed the button a few more times, applying more force with each push and frustrating the already frazzled little boy. Finally, fed up with the soda machine, he kicked the bottom of it and mumbled, "Bloody machine."

"Hey, careful there."

Matt turned around to see that the unknown wizard had come up behind him.

"If you destroy the machine, no one will be able to feed their caffeine habits." The tall, long haired stranger joked, smiling down at Matt. "And this is a government facility...we have a lot of serious caffeine freaks around here."

"I just want a cola." Matt explained, as if the Auror hadn't just witnessed the whole thing. "It may be the last one my mum allows me to have before she sentences me to a year in my room with only bread and water." He looked up at the stranger sheepishly and said, "She's kind of pissed at me right now."

The wizard smirked down at his new friend and said, "Well, let me see what I can do."

When Matt looked up in gratitude, the man nodded toward his face and asked, "Rough morning?"

"You could say that."

Matt watched as the long haired man took his fist and hit the soda machine just above where the sodas came out and then shook the machine a little. When the cherry cola in question magically appeared in the shoot, he looked down at Matt and said with a grin, "It's all in the hands, little man. These hands have slain Death Eaters and they can fix any of life's problems."

Matt retrieved his soda and popped the top as he said, "Thank you, Mr...?"

"Black." Sirius said as Matt took a sip of his soda. "Sirius Black."

The youngster almost choked on his sip of soda as he looked up at the famous Auror with wide eyed amazement. "You're Sirius Black?"

"That's what they tell me." Sirius informed him, crossing his arms over his chest with a chuckle. "And you are?"

"Matt." The boy replied. "But when my mum is mad at me...my name is Matthew."

"And what about when she's pissed? Like you said she is right now?" Sirius asked with a smirk. "What is your name then?"

"Matthew Rhys Donovan." Matt replied, looking down at his drink. "But right now she's so mad that she isn't calling me anything at all...which can't be a good sign."

"Donovan?" Sirius asked in surprise, finally noticing that the child's big, blue eyes held an eerily similar resemblance to the pair that had been shooting daggers at him for weeks. "As in Auror Stacie Donovan?"

"That's my mum." Matt answered glumly. "Do you know her?"

"You could say that." Sirius drawled, still trying to digest the new information he had just acquired.

_Stacie Donovan had a son?_

And then he remembered that the day of their accident, she had been pulling out of a Muggle school parking lot. But the young, blond woman in question definitely didn't look old enough to have a ten year old son. She must have been just a kid when she had him.

"Then you know that she is not a lot of fun to be around when she is pissed." Stacie's son told Sirius, wincing as he remembered once again how angry his mother was at him.

"Yes, I definitely know what you mean." Sirius nodded in agreement and then asked, "So what was the fight about? A girl?"

"Mashed potatoes."

"Mashed potatoes?" The Animagus repeated. "Someone did that to your face because of mashed potatoes?"

"I threw them at a sixth year." Matt explained. "Except I was aiming for a fourth year. And instead of throwing some food back at me, the big kid socked me in the eye."

"And what about the lip?" Sirius asked with a grin. "Was that because of a roast beef sandwich?"

Matt took another sip of his drink and then shook his head. "I don't know who punched me in the mouth. We all just started hitting each other and we ended up in a big pile on the floor. I think someone might have kicked me in the mouth."

"Did you get in a few good punches at least?"

"Yeah." Matt said, his mouth widening into a grin...which split his lip even further and he grimaced in pain.

"Here, let me look at that." Sirius said quickly, kneeling down so that he was level with Matt's face. He instinctively pulled his wand out of his pocket and told the youngster, "I can fix that right up for you. It will be pretty quick…"

Matt shook his head and said, "My mum is going to do it, but she wants a Healer to look at it first. I'm probably going to have to get stitches or something."

"Stitches?" Sirius asked, raising his eyebrow. "But a simple spell would…"

"I go to a Muggle school." Matt interrupted, looking up at Sirius with interest. "So if I show up tomorrow with a totally healed face, people would wonder what's up."

"Oh." Sirius said, shaking his head as Matt offered up a sip of his soda.

"And they already think I'm strange enough as it is."

"Do they know you're a wizard?" Sirius asked quickly, studying Matt closely.

"No." he answered, shaking his head. "But it's hard to live in the Muggle world knowing that you're a wizard but not being able to tell anyone about it. And sometimes I forget that my life at home is much different from other kids and I say things that probably sound strange to them."

"Why do you go to a Muggle school?" Sirius asked, understanding where the boy was coming from. Most Muggle-born wizards and witches didn't ever know about their magical abilities until their letters from Hogwarts arrive on their 11th birthday. But this young man wasn't even a Muggle-born wizard since his mother is an Auror and was apparently fully aware of his magical capabilities, yet he was living as a true Muggle.

"My mum's family are Muggles." Matt answered simply, shrugging his shoulders. "And my mum is Muggle-born, so she wants me to understand that part of my history." He looked up at Sirius and added, "It's only for another year…until I go off to Hogwarts."

"And what about your father's family?" Sirius asked, completely intrigued. He hadn't met many witches or wizards who had _chosen_ to raise their children as Muggles. "Doesn't your mum want you to know about that part of your history, as well?"

The little boy's face fell at the question and he said sadly, "I never met my dad."

The Auror suddenly felt like a huge heel as he quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, Matt…"

"He died before I was born." Matt continued in a quiet voice as he looked down at the floor. Then, straightening up, he looked back up into Sirius' concerned face and informed his new friend, "And I don't know too much about his side of the family. My mum doesn't talk about them too much." He shrugged his shoulders and added, "I don't think I want to know too much about them, anyway. I don't think they were very nice people. And I heard my grandmother say that they treated my mum badly. But, I don't need them. My mum's family is great and we always have Aunt Tonks to…"

"Nymphadora Tonks is your aunt?" Sirius interrupted yet again. This young man's life got more interesting by the moment. Was he somehow related to Matt and Stacie or the mysterious father and never realized it? After all, his parents weren't very nice people...

Matt shook his head and corrected him, "She's my godmother. But I call her Aunt Tonks. She and my mum are like sisters."

But before Sirius could say anything else, the mum in question opened the lounge door.

"Matthew Rhys, I thought I told you to come right back to the waiting area." Stacie commanded, standing in the doorway and glaring at her son. "This is not the day to test my patience."

Quickly regaining his senses, Sirius stood up for Matt by saying, "It's my fault that he didn't come back to you right away. We started..."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Stacie interrupted with a sigh. "Well...whatever. Come on Matt, let's go."

But Matt wasn't ready to leave just yet. "Mum, this is Sirius Black!"

"Yes. I know." Stacie informed her son as she rolled her eyes. Just what she needed…someone else around here in awe of Sirius Black. "He and I work together when he's not being a pain in my arse."

Matt looked up at Sirius in surprise and asked in mock disbelief, "You're a pain in her arse, too? So am I! No wonder we get along so well!"

Stacie visibly cringed at her son's taunting words, but Sirius Black surprised her by throwing his head back in laughter and saying, "You're absolutely right, Matt. I knew there was reason I liked you so quickly."

Looking at his mother, Matt explained, "Sirius helped me get my soda when it was stuck in the machine."

"Yeah," Stacie drawled, "he's a real prince."

Matt looked at his mother strangely but didn't say anything as Sirius explained, "You just caught me on a good day, Matt. I'm not usually this nice." Glancing at Stacie with a smirk, he added slyly, "Just ask your mother."

"Too bad." Matt said with a shrug. "You were pretty good at being nice. Maybe you should do it more often."

"Maybe I should." The Animagus agreed, still looking at Stacie.

Stacie, a little disconcerted at being the object of Sirius Black's stare, looked down at Matt and ushered him out of the lounge by saying, "Come on, Matt. One of the Healers is waiting in my office and agreed to stitch you up in there."

Stacie held the door open but before Matt disappeared through it, Sirius winked and told him, "She must have calmed down a little. She's calling you Matt again."

"What?" Stacie asked, looking at her co-worker in annoyance.

"Nothing." Sirius told her with a smirk as Matt grinned up at him. "It's a private joke."

"Oh really?" Stacie asked, not sure she liked her son and Sirius Black having a private joke between them.

"Don't worry, mum," Matt said, heading out of the lounge. "It's a guy thing."


	6. Chapter 6

_**Thanks to all of my readers! It's been a slow go to get fans of this one, so I appreciate all of you who have been reading and leaving me reviews! You guys are the best! Today was a rainy, sleepy Sunday in my neck of the woods, so I had plenty of time to update! Two chapters for your reading pleasure this time!**_

_**I always like to include a chapter where there is a Girls Night In in most of my stories. It was a little weird writing about Hermione and Ginny drinking wine, but it was good fun! I have some great friends and have had some great 'girlfriend' moments in my life. This chapter pays tribute to them...**_

* * *

Chapter Six

_"It's a guy thing, mum."_

Stacie muttered those words to herself hours later as she ferociously chopped up some carrots and potatoes and threw them in the bottom of a roasting pan. It had been at least six hours since she found her son in the Auror's lounge with Sirius Black, but Stacie was still stewing about it as she haphazardly prepared dinner. Trying to make herself feel better, Stacie had decided to throw a 'Girls Night' dinner party for herself, Tonks, Hermione, and her two sisters…Katie and Lindsay.

"That is the 3rd time you have mumbled that phrase in the last hour," the eldest Donovan sister, Katie, said over her shoulder as she looked across the counter at Stacie. "What is that all about?"

"Matt got thrown out of school today," Stacie haughtily informed her older sister, who was helping her get dinner ready. "So I had to take him to work with me for the day, where he promptly made friends with the wizard who is making my working life miserable! And then my child had the gall to share a private joke with this man while looking up at me and saying, 'It's a guy thing, mum'!" She put down her chopping knife and looked incredulously at her sister as she finished, "Can you believe that?"

"Can I believe what?"

"Are you listening to me?"

"Of course I am listening to you, Stace," Katie joked, licking chocolate frosting off of her fingers and grinning at her younger sister, "You are screaming like a banshee."

"My son had a 'guy thing' with a man who goes out of his way to make my professional life a nightmare and you are mocking me!" Stacie accused, taking away the spatula that Katie was using to spread frosting on the chocolate cake she had made for dessert. "So no more chocolate for you!"

Katie burst out laughing as a loud crack was heard in the middle of Stacie's kitchen and suddenly Tonks, Hermione, and a strange red-haired girl had joined the group.

"I am never going to get used to that." Katie muttered, greeting Tonks with a kiss on the cheek and smiling over at Hermione and the stranger. "You have to remember that Stacie is the only witch in the family, so the rest of us are not used to having people appear out of thin air."

"Sorry," Tonks apologized with a grin. Nodding towards the red headed girl who had arrived with her, the pink haired Auror announced, "I brought along another girl for our Girls Night. This is Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister and Harry's fiancé."

"Ginny Weasley?" Stacie asked in astonishment. "Of the Holyhead Harpies?"

Ginny grinned and blushed in embarrassment as a very confused Katie asked, "Holy what?"

"Holyhead Harpies," Stacie explained, motioning for the women to have a seat. "It's a Quidditch Team." Katie shook her head in confusion as Stacie turned to Ginny and said, "Matt sure picked a bad night to piss me off! He's a huge fan of yours."

"Matt is Stacie's son." Tonks explained to Ginny before asking, "Where is my godson anyway?"

"In bed." Stacie said sharply, opening up the oven and placing a roasting pan full of chicken and vegetables inside. "Without the telly or being able to talk to his friends on the phone."

"Did you give him dinner at least?" Hermione joked, accepting the glass of wine that Katie had poured for her.

"Bread and water." Stacie deadpanned, waving her wand at the oven and soon the smell of roasted chicken and vegetables filled the kitchen.

"Oh, stop your nonsense." Katie chided, handing Tonks her glass of wine and turning to pour one for Ginny. "You put cheese and ham on his bread, worden."

"Matt got tossed from school today for starting a food fight." Hermione explained to Ginny as she took a sip of her wine. "And Stacie was not pleased with him at all."

"I understand," Ginny said, smiling at Stacie. "Have you met my brother, George?"

Stacie grinned, feeling her bad mood lifting at once, and answered, "Met him and heard all about Fred, too. I bet food fights were the least of your mum's worries."

As the women settled around the kitchen table to wait for dinner to be ready, Tonks looked over at Katie and asked, "How are the wedding plans coming along?"

But it was Stacie who groaned and remarked sarcastically, "And we were having such a nice, peaceful time."

"Not a good topic?" Tonks chirped with a grin as she settled down in the chair next to the elder Donovan sister. "Is all of this wedding planning beginning to cause distress in the usually harmonious Donovan household?"

"My small, intimate wedding is turning into the biggest headache of my entire life." Katie said, her shoulders sagging a little bit as she spoke. "It's a lot more complicated than I thought it would be."

"Listen up, Ginny girl." Tonks said playfully, taking a few of the cheese and crackers that Stacie had set out while they waited for dinner to be ready. "Katie is in the midst of planning her wedding to her longtime sweetie, too. This will be you in a few more months." Ginny wrinkled up her nose as Tonks turned back to Katie and asked, "What is the latest problem?"

"The bridesmaid's dresses." Both Katie and Stacie said at the same time.

Tonks, Hermione, and Ginny exchanged a look across the table as Hermione asked, "Well, can we help?"

"Just what we need..." Katie muttered, rolling her eyes, "...more opinions."

"My sister has fallen in love with some yellow bridesmaid's gowns." Stacie informed them, wrinkling up her nose just as Ginny had only moments before.

"Pale yellow." Katie corrected.

"That will look beautiful." Tonks said, looking at the sisters in confusion. "Especially since you are using yellow roses as your flowers. What's the problem?"

"Pale yellow gowns will look beautiful on Lindsay and the other two bridesmaids!" Stacie exclaimed. "But look at me!"

The witches did as they were told and looked at the young Auror, but didn't see the problem.

"I'm a blond!" Stacie informed them, reaching up and tugging on a lock of her golden hair.

"My darling sister believes that she will look like a banana." Katie filled them in, looking pointedly across the table at her sister. "And my wedding day is supposed to be all about her, don't you know."

Hermione and Ginny chuckled in unison as Stacie shot back at her sister, "I have to make the toast and I plan on writing one of the best toast's in matron of honor history. But, no one will be paying any attention to my clever words if they are too busy thinking that I look like something they cut up and put on their krispies that morning."

"Speaking of Lindsay," Tonks said suddenly, "where is that girl? I thought she was joining us for dinner?" Turning to Ginny, she added, "Their youngest sister, Lindsay Donovan is a hoot. You think the Weasley clan is noisy and irreverent…just wait until you see the three Donovan sisters in action. They are too much."

"Lindsay told me this morning that she would be around for dinner." Stacie informed them, checking her watch. "But she's got this new boyfriend and probably got…distracted. Or she is out looking for an even more disastrous color of bridesmaid dress to show Katie…"

Tonks chuckled again as Katie groaned and asked, "Can we please just change the subject already?" Looking around the table at Hermione and Tonks, Katie grinned devilishly and said, "I want to know more about this wizard who is wreaking havoc on my sister's career at the Ministry and forming an unholy alliance with my nephew."

"That certainly sounds interesting," Ginny said with a grin, looking over at Stacie.

"Sirius is forming an alliance with Matt?" Tonks asked, also looking over at Stacie. "When did this happen?"

"Sirius?" Ginny asked, catching up on the conversation. "Sirius Black is wreaking havoc on your career at the Ministry?"

"Whenever he can." Stacie muttered, scowling at her sister for putting her in the hot seat. "He's a pain in my arse."

"Sirius?" Ginny repeated with a frown. "Sirius is such a good guy."

"Sirius Black?" Stacie asked her, taking a sip of wine. "You think Sirius Black is a good guy?" Stacie shook her head and teased, "And I was just starting to like you, Ginny."

"The guy's name is Sirius Black?" Katie teased with a grin. "God, Stacie, where do you find these guys? That's almost as bad as Arcturus Rhys."

"He's Harry's godfather…but he's more like a father to him and another brother to me." Ginny said, ignoring Katie's comment and looking at Stacie strangely. "Sirius is funny and polite and perfectly charming."

"Well, he's not funny or polite or anywhere close to charming to Stacie." Hermione informed her old friend. "He's a big ole' pain in her arse."

"You're kidding." Ginny said, putting down her wine glass and looking at Stacie skeptically. "Because he had such complimentary things to say about you at dinner the other night."

"He talked about me at dinner?" Stacie asked curiously.

"This could get interesting," Tonks said, winking at Stacie.

"Well, he and Harry were talking about the Aurors and the longest part of the conversation had to do with you." Ginny informed them. "He was really impressed with your notes on the Hennessey case..."

"He gave me such a hard time on the Hennessey inquiry today!" Stacie exclaimed. "In fact, we were still arguing over it when I left this evening."

"Well, Harry told him that Gawain Robards had mentioned that they were lucky to be able to work so closely with such a talented young Auror and Sirius agreed that you were better than any of the rookies in the Department." Ginny informed Stacie. "I believe he said that he hadn't seen such a surprising show of power and strength in a witch since Harry' s mother, Lily Potter."

"That is high praise indeed, especially coming from Sirius." Tonks chimed in. "He absolutely adored Lily Potter."

"Seriously?" Stacie asked, clearly stunned. "Because he treats me like some annoying gnat that he'd rather swat at than have to deal with."

"Because he likes you." Hermione teased in a sing-song voice. "And now we have the proof! How cute is that?"

"What proof?"

"Oh Heavens to Merlin Stacie, it's just like high school…or Hogwarts, in your case...even I can see that." Katie said smugly, grinning at her sister. "He's annoying you because it's the only way he can get you to pay attention to him."

"Sirius Black does not have to play games to get women to pay attention to him." Stacie reminded them. "He's got every female at the Ministry panting after him."

"But he doesn't want them. He's fascinated by you." Tonks told her. "Which tells me that my cousin has very good taste."

"This guy is your cousin?" Katie asked, playing catch up with the conversation. She was used to being a few steps behind when her sister's wizarding world friends were around and stopped being upset by it years ago. "Wait a minute…Sirius Black? I know that name. Wasn't he in all the papers a few years ago for being an escaped felon?" Looking at Ginny, she asked incredulously, "Your fiancée's godfather is a murderer? One who is so fierce that he made it into the Muggle news?"

"No," Hermione answered quickly for Ginny, "He was falsely imprisoned. And cleared of all charges."

"Stacie didn't tell you this story?" Ginny asked Katie, glancing over at Stacie. "About Harry Potter and Sirius Black saving the wizarding world and…"

"She told me about Harry Potter, but I don't remember hearing about this Sirius Black character." Glancing over at her sister, who was now looking down at the table, Katie quickly said, "Stacie was out of the country for a long time. And when she came back a few years ago, we had a lot of catching up to do. His name probably got lost in all of the stories she told me."

Ginny looked over at Stacie and asked, "Why were you out of the country?"

"Can we focus, please?" Hermione interrupted quickly, sensing Stacie's discomfort. "We're talking about Sirius here. And Stacie's son, Matt. And some kind of unholy alliance that was formed?"

"Matty?" Tonks asked in surprise. "Wait, someone said something about that when we arrived. I didn't know that Sirius knew Matty."

"He didn't," Stacie answered sharply, her annoyance at Sirius returning. "Until today. I found him in the lounge with Matty this afternoon after I picked him up from school. And, apparently, they shared some kind of private joke. 'A guy thing' is what Matt called it." Stacie looked around the table and asked incredulously, "Can you believe that? A guy thing?"

"It's cute." Katie said with a smile. "And Matt is a very easy kid to like, so I don't think that this Sirius character had any ulterior motive by talking to him."

Looking at Stacie, Tonks added, "Plus, Sirius is very good with kids. He's been marvelous with Teddy."

"He must be." Stacie stated, crossing her arms in front of her and leaning on the table. "Because Matt talked to him about his father."

Katie put down her wine glass in surprise as she asked, "Matty talked to him about Artie? Wow."

"I know." Stacie agreed.

"Why is that 'wow'?" Ginny asked, looking at the two sisters.

"Because Matt doesn't talk about his dad to just anybody." Stacie informed her quietly. "My husband died before Matt was born, under suspicious circumstances. He's very private about his father."

"Suspicious circumstances?" Ginny asked. She lowered her voice and added, "Lord Voldemort?"

"Some people suspected that he was a Death Eater." Stacie told her and Hermione gently, avoiding Tonks' eyes.

"Some jerky kid gave Matty a hard time about not having a father a few years ago." Katie told the group. "So, he's been very careful about who he talks to about Archie. He's very protective of his father's memory."

"How awful." Hermione breathed, then asked cautiously, "Is that why you raised him as a Muggle? To save him from judgmental eyes in the wizarding world?"

"There is no record of any Death Eater named Artie Rhys. Stacie's husband was not a Death Eater" Tonks said matter-of-factly, protecting Stacie from any more questions. Looking over at her old friend she asked gently, "What did Matty say to Sirius about his father?"

"Just background information, I think." Stacie said. "Matt wouldn't really tell me what they talked about."

"I don't think it's anything to worry about, sweetie." Katie said reassuringly, instinctively knowing from the tone of her sister's voice that she was concerned about the conversation. "It's good that Matt is talking to people about Artie. He needs to share his dad with people outside of the family."

"That's what worries me." Stacie said quietly, looking down at her empty wine glass. "Sirius Black is a stranger to him and their conversation couldn't have lasted more than ten minutes. But in that ten minutes, he talked about Artie." She paused, looked around the table, and then asked, "Do you think it was because Sirius is a man?"

"I'm not following." Hermione said, her forehead creasing in concern.

"Well, I haven't had a real relationship since Archie died." Stacie admitted to them shyly. "Do you think he's so desperate for a male role model that he'll reach out to the first guy that pays a little bit of attention to him?"

Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it again as her brain caught up to her vocal chords. The silence from the other three women at the table told Stacie that her theory wasn't exactly without merit.

"That's what I was afraid of..." Stacie breathed, slumping her shoulders a bit. "I mean, I've always assumed that my dad and my brothers were enough for him...but maybe I was wrong. They all belong to someone else, you know. My brothers both have children of their own and we were so far away for so long that it's been hard for my dad to make Matty a real priority or have a real influence in his life."

"I don't think Matt has missed out on anything, sis." Katie told her gently. "You are such a stable presence in his life and that's more than a lot of kids have."

"Are you saying that because it is true?" Stacie asked, looking at her sister playfully. "Or are you saying that because you want to soften me up enough so that I'll agree to be a banana at your wedding?"

"Where is all this nonsense coming from, Stacie?" Tonks asked, studying her old friend as if she were a client sitting across the desk from her. "Matt is a great kid. You've made excellent choices where he's concerned..."

"That's just it." Stacie interrupted, trying to translate her jumbled feelings into words that made sense to her friends. "They've been my choices. Artie and _I_ decided it was safer for me to take Matty and go live with friends in America and _I_ decided that we had been away from family long enough and that we needed to come back to London. I told myself that I was doing those things with Matty's best interests at heart, but actually it's been all about me." She rested her chin on the upturned palm of her hand as she said, "And worst of all...I've been running away from relationships my entire life. Ever since I learned that Archie had been killed, I have been so gun shy about love. And while that has protected my heart, it has deprived Matt of having a stable male influence in his life."

"Where are we going with this, kid?" Katie asked in concern. "It's not like you were trying to keep men out of Matty's life on purpose."

"That's what I'm talking about." Stacie pointed out, looking at her friends. "What if I had taken a chance with that guy in New York that kept calling me? What if I had agreed to go out with that guy Lindsay wanted to set me up with last year? Maybe if I had let those men into my life...and Matt's...when I had the chance, he wouldn't be so starved for male attention now."

"Have you asked Matt if he's starved for attention?" Tonks wanted to know. "Because this could all be in your head." Smiling gently at Stacie, she added, "Trust me, I know all about being a neurotic mum. We stay up at nights wondering if we have done everything right while our kids sleep peacefully down the hall...without a care in the world."

"And it's possible that Matt talked to Sirius about his father because he _liked_ talking to Sirius." Hermione suggested. "Life is much easier when you are ten...you don't always have an ulterior motive for everything you do."

"And if Matt _is_ looking for a male role model, Sirius Black is not a bad one to have." Ginny said, and then added quickly before Stacie could interrupt, "He's smart and hard-working and saves people's lives for a living."

"And he's sexy as hell…" Hermione added. When everyone turned to look at her, Hermione blushed and said, "Oh, come on! I can't have been the only one thinking that way! For an older man, he is very good looking!"

"My brother is having such a bad influence on you!" Ginny giggled, swatting at Hermione playfully. "But she does have a point, Stacie. If your son is going to pick up a guy for you, you could definitely do worse than Sirius Black. He's a little dangerous and that is very sexy."

"Take it from her," Tonks teased, nudging Ginny. "She knows about dangerous men. She agreed to marry Harry Potter."

"Well, I have had enough Sirius Black talk today to last me for a lifetime!" Stacie informed her group of friends as she stood up and headed back into the kitchen to check on dinner. "This is a Girls Night and dinner is just about ready. So, new rule…no more talk about Sirius Black."

**A/N: I'm not too happy with my characterization of Hermione in this chapter. I don't know what was off, but I'll try better next time!**


	7. Chapter 7

_**Well, I have learned that the beauty of an AU story is that I can take creative license with Jo's fabulous characters. I am doing it again in this chapter with the character of Regulus Black. Instead of having him die so young, I am changing the date of his death to circa 1992 so that it fits my storytelling purposes. That way the brothers were still estranged and Regulus was gone by the time Sirius was cleared of Pettigrew's murder, which I am imagining happened sometime between OoTP and HBP since Sirius obviously didn't die in the Department of Mysteries for this fic. I hope Jo approves.**_

**_And now for some more Sirius and Stacie goodness...with a little backstory thrown in for you!_**

_**

* * *

**_

Chapter Seven

_The next morning…_

"I didn't know you had a son."

Stacie looked up from her pile of paperwork and frowned when she saw that Sirius Black had entered her office...her private sanctum...with two cups of coffee.

"Well now you do." Stacie said dismissively, going back to her report and hoping he would take the hint.

He didn't.

Instead, he put one of the cups of coffee down next to her and then settled himself in a chair across from her.

Eyeing the cup of steaming liquid, she asked, "Is that for me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Sirius chuckled at her guarded look and simply said, "I thought you might want it."

"You brought me coffee?"

"Yes."

"Why?" she asked again.

He simply shook his head at the silly conversation and then said, "I heard that you prefer coffee to tea, so it's a peace offering."

"What's in it?"

"Coffee." He told her with a grin. "Sugar. A little bit of cream. And a sprinkle of cinnamon."

"No rat poison?"

"It is 100 poison free." Sirius reassured her and then asked, "Would you like some poison? I'm sure the Ministry has plenty of good stuff that we could add..."

"How do you know what I like in my coffee?" Stacie asked, interrupting his attempt at humor.

"Tonks told me."

"Traitor." Stacie muttered. Then looking up at him, she asked dryly, "What did you do to her? She doesn't usually betray me..."

"Telling me what you take in your coffee is a betrayal?" He asked with a laugh. When Stacie didn't answer, he explained, "I told her that I was going to bring you a cup of coffee and she told me that I should try putting some cinnamon in it. She thought it would help break the ice."

"What do you want?" Stacie asked, finally pushing her paperwork aside and looking up at him. "Is this about a raid? Or another inquiry? Because whatever it is, I'm pretty sure the answer will be no..."

"I just wanted to talk to you."

"About?"

"Matt." He said simply. "Why didn't you tell me that you had a son?"

"It didn't come up."

"Don't you think that's kind of odd?" He asked curiously.

"Not really."

"I think it's kind of odd."

"Well, then we disagree." Stacie told him smugly. "It's happened before, I'm sure it will happen again."

"I think that if you take a minute to think about it, you will find it odd…"

"Mr. Black, the only conversations we have ever had have been about vehicles and case files." Stacie reminded him. "So I really don't understand why you are so surprised that my child hasn't come up in any of those." Absently playing with the stirrer in the coffee he brought her, she added, "I usually talk about him to my friends. And you and I are not friends."

"True." Sirius agreed, biting back a grin. "And why is that again?"

"Because I don't like you."

"Right." He said, nodding his head in agreement. He watched her play with the coffee cup for a moment and then asked, "Are you going to drink that?"

"Why?" Stacie asked, unconsciously pulling the cup closer to her. "If I don't, are you going to take it away and use it to try and make friends with someone else?"

"No." Sirius told her with a smile. "You seem to be the only one around here who I have to work so hard to be friends with."

"That's because I am the only one around here who you insult with every breath you take."

"Don't be so sensitive..."

"Sensitive?" Stacie asked, feeling the anger well up within her. "I am not being sensitive. You are constantly messing with me."

"And you give as good as you get." He reminded her. "I thought it was our thing."

"We don't have a _thing_, Mr. Black." she informed him pointedly. "I don't have _things_ with people who go out of their way to make my life difficult."

"Why do you do that?" he asked suddenly.

"What?"

"Call me Mr. Black."

"Isn't that your name?"

"Yes," he agreed, "but I have another name. It's Sirius. Why don't you ever call me Sirius?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes, actually, it does." Sirius told her. "You call my godson Harry..."

"I like your godson."

"And you call Tonks by her nickname..."

"Tonks and I have been friends since we were at Hogwarts." Stacie informed him smugly. "We grew up together. Calling her Mrs. Lupin would just be weird."

"You call Miss Granger Hermione..."

"She scares me."

Sirius chuckled at her unexpected comical response and then added, "And yet you call me Mr. Black."

"Yes I do."

"Why?"

"We already went over this." Stacie told him, rolling her eyes. "Those people are all my friends. You are not."

"You are drinking my coffee." He pointed out as she took a sip of the coffee in question.

"So is that some kind of binding contract between us now?" Stacie asked, putting the cup of coffee down. "Because if I had known that this coffee came with strings attached..."

"You love it."

"What?"

"This thing we have between us."

"The insults?" Stacie asked, raising her eyebrow. Then she added slyly, "Yeah, they are really the highlight of my day."

"You do." Sirius repeated with a grin. "You love every minute of it."

"You're insane." Stacie scoffed.

"Everyone around here adores you." he told her, watching her very carefully. "You are the beloved and oh-so-wonderful Stacie Donovan…graduated top of her class at Hogwarts, disappeared off the map for awhile…I assume so that you could raise your child…and then returned to soar through Auror training as if it were…."

"You've been checking up on me?" Stacie interrupted with a frown.

"And therefore no one challenges you." Sirius continued, ignoring her interruption. "But I do. I am one of the only people around here who doesn't take your word as law. I make you defend your decisions and you secretly love that."

"So, you're a psychologist and an Auror?" Stacie asked snidely. "Are you going to interpret my dreams next?"

"You and I are a lot alike that way." Sirius continued, ignoring her snide comments. "We thrive on challenges. And I am a challenge to you...which is why you throw insults and sly comments right back at me. You haven't bought into any of those rumors about my magical brilliance...you dislike me strictly on principal."

Stacie couldn't keep herself from snickering at that comment, because it was partially true. Part of her did dislike him simply for the fun of disliking him.

"And you love having someone around who finally challenges you instead of looking at you in adoration." Sirius continued, encouraged by her response. "So do I. That's why we are so good at insulting each other. And why we keep doing it every chance we get."

"Not everyone around here adores me."

"I beg to differ." He countered. "There is something different about you. It's like everyone around here has you up on some sort of pedestal."

"And you have made it your mission to knock me off of it?"

"Maybe." He said slyly, enjoying the way that she completely understood him.

"Where are we going with this?" Stacie asked, glaring at him. "And more importantly...are we going to get there anytime soon? Because I have work to do."

"I think it has to do with your son."

Stacie looked at him strangely and then quipped, "We're back to that again? Everyone around here has children, Mr. Black. Why would people treat me differently because of Matt?"

"Because of his father."

Stacie stopped straightening up her paperwork and froze. Raising her eyes to look at him, she asked, "I know that he spoke to you about his father. What did he tell you?"

Sirius immediately knew that he had struck a nerve. But he also knew that he had her undivided attention. So he took the plunge."Matt told me that he never met his father."

"He didn't."

"Because he died before he was born." Stacie nodded and then he asked, "How?" She looked away from him again and started to absent mindedly straighten out her notes as he continued, "Was it in the Battle where Dumbledore was killed? Or in the final battle where Harry defeated Voldemort? Because I don't remember fighting with a wizard named Donovan."

"It wasn't in battle." Stacie told him stiffly. "He was a casualty of Lord Voldemort."

"When?"

"I don't see how this is any of your business."

"I've spent the afternoon checking through some old records and I didn't find any death certificates for a wizard named Donovan, either." Sirius informed her smugly, putting his feet up on her desk and enjoying her discomfort.

"How very astute of you." Stacie sneered, never looking up. "Instead of messing around in my cases, you've spent the afternoon messing around in my personal life instead?"

"Was he a Death Eater?" Sirius asked and he watched as Stacie's knuckles turned white from the force with which she was now holding her stack of files. He had hit a nerve. Softly, he asked, "Is that why you are raising him as a Muggle?"

Stacie looked up and was ready to blast him out of the water, but something about the look in his eyes changed her mind. She suddenly realized that this wasn't another one of his games. He genuinely seemed interested. So, she pursed her lips and let out a long breath before saying, "I guess you found out my dirty little secret, Mr. Black..."

"Sirius." He corrected her softly.

"Sirius." She repeated shortly, before she added, "Well, Sirius, congratulations...you found out that my husband's last name wasn't Donovan. I gave Matt my family's name. Do you want a medal?"

"Why didn't you give him his father's name?"

She shrugged as their eyes met and held for a few moments. She finally looked away and got up from behind her desk. As she walked over to her file drawers, she kept her back turned to him and an eery silence filled the room. He figured that her files were just an excuse for her to gather her thoughts together and so he waited in the silence.

But when she turned back around a few moments later, she seemed almost surprised to see him sitting there."You're still here." She stated lamely.

"We were in the middle of a conversation." He reminded her in confusion. "Where did you expect me to go?"

Coming back to the desk, she said coldly, "I was hoping you had run for the hills."

"Why would I do that?"

"I don't know," Stacie shouted in utter frustration. Lowering her voice, she added, "I can't even figure out what you are doing here in my office or why you were having a conversation with my son! So how the hell am I supposed to know how you…Harry Potter's godfather and an unjustly accused murderer…would react to finding out that my husband may or may not have been a Death Eater?"

"Was he?"

"I don't know!" Stacie admitted as she felt hot tears stinging at her eyes. She would not cry in front of this man…she simply would not. Quietly, she asked him, "Why does any of this matter to you?"

"Because your son seems familiar to me."

"Meaning?"

"He reminds me of someone."

"Me, hopefully?" Stacie asked, flopping back down in her desk chair and resigning herself to the fact that Sirius Black was not going away.

"My brother."

Whatever Stacie was expecting him to say, that wasn't it. Her jaw dropped as she asked, "Regulus Black?"

"You knew him?"

"I knew of him." Stacie informed him, reeling from the news that Sirius Black thought that he might be her son's uncle. "The two of you were years ahead of me in school. But he was the Seeker for the Slytherin Quidditch Team, right?"

"Yes."

"But you were in Gryffindor?"

Sirius nodded and replied, "Long story."

"Well, that hasn't stopped you from wanting to hear mine." Stacie shot back at him.

"Is Matt my brother's child?"

"Why would you even think that?" Stacie asked him curiously. "I barely knew your brother."

"He died about ten years ago…"

"Just before Matt was born." Stacie finished for him. Thinking back, she asked suddenly, "He was a Death Eater, wasn't he?"

"Until just about the very end." Sirius admitted softly. "But he had a change of heart and tried to get away from that life. He was…unsuccessful."

"And that made you think that he was Matt's father?"

Sirius shrugged and told her, "Matt said something about his father's family not being very kind to you and…" His voice trailed off for a moment and then he looked up and admitted, "My parents believed in pure-blood supremacy and they wouldn't have taken kindly to my brother marrying a Muggle-born…"

"Was your brother married when he died?" Stacie asked quietly, not quite sure what to do with this strange turn of events.

"I don't know." The Animagus told her with a shrug. "I was in Azkaban for most of his final years and before that…we weren't close." Looking up into her confused expression, Sirius let out a long breath and said, "I'm sorry to have brought this up. I just…I've learned some things about my brother since his death that made me see him in a different light. I began to regret not knowing him better while I still had the chance. Then your kid comes along and he is mysteriously being raised as a Muggle and his father died around the same time as Regulus and his father's family didn't like you and you didn't give your son his father's name and there was no death certificate and…" Sirius sighed and shook his head, as he finished, "And I put all the pieces together and came up with the wrong conclusion."

The office was silent for a few long moments before Stacie quietly told him, "Matt's father was named Artie Rhys. Like you and your brother, I learned some things about him after he died that made me think that he might have been working for the Dark Lord and that is why I never gave Matt his father's name. I figured that life was hard enough without a father around, especially one who may have been a traitor to good wizard's everywhere." She was silent for a moment before she finally said, "I'm sorry that Matt is not who you thought he was. I know how important it is to have some sort of a connection to a loved one that has died."

"Yeah," Sirius agreed quietly, hanging his head. When he finally looked up again, their eyes locked and held for a moment before Stacie finally looked away.

"I guess I misjudged you." She said softly, picking up her coffee so that she would have something to do with her hands. "I thought you were being nice to Matt as some sort of way to annoy me. I'm sorry."

"I'm glad you have Matt as a memory of your husband…Artie." Sirius told her quietly, nodding as he looked down at a picture encased in a simple silver frame on her desk. It was a Muggle photograph of Stacie holding baby Matt right after he was born. She looked tired and worn out, but she was smiling lovingly down at her newborn son as a man Sirius didn't recognize looked on with pride.

"Is that your dad?" he asked, never taking his eyes off the photo. "The dad who is the police inspector?"

Stacie smiled at the reference to their first meeting and nodded as she said, "It's the real reason I raise my son as a Muggle. My family. They are all he has left."

"It happened quick, didn't it?" Sirius asked suddenly.

"What?"

"Your husband's death." Sirius said, looking at her. "It was quick and sudden, was it?"Stacie nodded silently and he asked, "Did he know that there was a baby?"

"He knew." She answered quietly, "He died only a month before Matt was born. He knew that he wasn't safe, though he wouldn't tell me why, and so he sent me to live with some friends in America…" Her voice trailed off and she looked away as Sirius waited for her to compose herself. Finally, she looked back at him and said, "Matt is the only reason I didn't give up on the night I learned that Artie was gone. He's the only reason I do a lot of things."

Sirius smiled and suddenly didn't know where to take the conversation next. Finally, he said, "He's a good kid."

When Stacie looked up at him and smiled at his compliment...it took his breath away.

"Yeah, he is." she agreed quietly. Then wrinkled up her nose and added, "When he's not throwing food around the school cafeteria."

"Those things happen when you're ten and you are a wizard in a world full of Muggles." Sirius said with a grin. "It must have been tough to raise him alone."

"I was never really alone." she told him. "My family was with me the whole time. When I went to America, my sister Lindsay came with me so that I wouldn't have Matt alone. And she fell in love with New York, so she stayed. And then a few years ago we got tired of being so far away from family and we came home to London. I reconnected with Tonks and went through Auror training while my parents took care of him for me. So, he hasn't really missed out on anything."

Sirius nodded and then glanced up at the clock as he smirked down at her and remarked, "Do you realize that we haven't insulted one another once in the last fifteen minutes?"

"Wow." She said, also glancing up at the clock. "How did that happen?"

"I think it was the coffee. It works every time."

"I think I liked it better when you were insulting me." Stacie remarked, looking back down at her paperwork. For some reason, sitting in a small office space with Sirius Black was suddenly becoming uncomfortable. So, flippantly she added, "It's easier that way."

"What's easier?" Sirius asked, but it was clear that she was back to ignoring him. He watched her go back to her research and realized that the world must not have always been kind to Stacie Donovan, no matter what kind of a positive spin she put on it. He shook his head at her and asked, "Do you always go from zero to sixty in that short amount of time?"

Looking back up to face him, she said coldly, "Okay, so we've shared our sad stories with each other. I don't need you to feel sorry for me now."

"Right now, I am feeling a lot of things for you," Sirius drawled, "but sorry is definitely not one of them."

"I thought that I was not one of those witches that you flirt with?"

His lips curled into a grin and he told her, "I knew that I would get you with that line. So, tell me, was this flirting?"

_"I'm feeling a lot of things for you, but sorry is not one of them?"_ Stacie repeated back to him. "What kind of line was that?"

Sirius grinned and Stacie stared at him, trying to figure out whether he was just humoring her or not. She couldn't read him, so she just sighed and asked, "What do you want from me?"

"For us to be friends."

"I wouldn't go that far." She told him dryly.

"You are a hard nut to crack, Donovan." He said with a chuckle. But he could tell that he had gotten to her so he added, "But I'm going to have fun trying."

"Lucky me." Stacie returned sarcastically.

"Can we at least say that this conversation was some sort of truce?"

Stacie considered his request and then said, "Until the next time you interfere with one of my cases."

"Deal." Sirius agreed with a smile.

As he headed to the door, Stacie called to him, "Thanks for the coffee." She paused for a moment and then added, "Sirius."

Knowing that was the best he was going to get from her for the moment and deciding that it was enough, he smiled back at her and said, "Anytime, Stacie."


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter Eight**_

_Later That Day..._

"So, you're back again?"

Matt Donovan looked up from where he was stocking cans in the pantry of the Ministry kitchens to see his new friend, Sirius Black, leaning in the doorway.

Shaking his head, Matt muttered, "My mum gave me the choice of this or cleaning out the toilets for the housekeeping staff." Wrinkling up his freckled nose, he added, "I figured that cans of tomatoes and fruit cocktail had to be better than dirty toilets."

"Why aren't you in school?" Sirius asked, moving further into the room.

"My Headmaster called last night and told my mum that they were suspending me for another day." Matt informed him, placing cans of pork and beans on a nearby shelf. "My mum had just started to calm down, too. And then Headmaster Anderson calls and tells her that since I started the food fight I had to be suspended for another day."

"Did your mum flip out all over again?" Sirius asked, already knowing the answer to that one.

"She thinks there is something I'm not telling her." Matt muttered, picking up more cans from a nearby box. "So, she grounded me until I tell her the whole story. Which means I'm not going to get to leave my room until I'm fifty."

Sirius watched him load up some more cans and then asked, "Are you telling her the whole story?"

Matt simply shrugged him off and continued with his work, telling the Animagus that Stacie's mothering instincts were right on. The kid was hiding something.

Changing the subject, Sirius asked, "Do you think the housekeeping witches are going to give you a lunch break?"

Matt shrugged and asked, "Why?"

"Because I'm on my break and was looking for someone to have lunch with." Sirius answered honestly. He pulled a can of cherry cola and a bag of crisps out of his pocket and handed them to Matt. "I think the soda machine in the lounge is afraid of me now because it gave me an extra cherry cola this morning. And a bag of crisps."

Matt looked at him skeptically and said, "The soda machine gave you crisps?"

Sirius winked, held up his hands, and said, "I told you...magic hands."

Matt looked around the room and then said uncertainly, "I don't know. If my mum or one of the housekeepers comes in and I'm not working..."

"You have to eat, don't you?" Sirius reasoned. "Your mum may be mad at you, but I don't think she wants you to go hungry."

Matt considered the Auror's suggestion and then asked, "Does everyone who works here get a lunch break?"

"It's in the rule book." Sirius assured him. "Everyone gets lunch."

The youngster drew in a deep breath and said, "Okay, but let's eat in here. If my mum sees me out in the cafeteria...she'll find something else for me to do."

"Deal." Sirius said with a grin, turning over a couple of nearby milk crates and sitting down on one.

"Do you want to know what the worst part of being grounded is?" Matt asked, sitting on the crate next to Sirius and opening his bag of crisps.

"No telly?"

Stacie's son shook his head and answered, "Now that I'm grounded, I'm never going to get to play football."

"You play football?" Sirius asked in surprise, unwrapping the sandwich he had brought for lunch.

Matt rolled his eyes and then said sarcastically, "I'm on a club team and I wear the uniform...but I don't actually get to play."

"Why not?"

Matt paused and looked down at his soda for a long time before he admitted, "I'm not any good. So I just sit on the bench. I'm like a cheerleader who doesn't wear a skirt."

Sirius chuckled at the cheerleader comment and asked, "What position do you play when you're not on the bench."

"Striker."

"That's cool." Sirius said, taking a sip of his own drink. "That's is the glamour position."

"You know about Muggle football?" Matt asked him, munching on one of his crisps.

"Not too much," Sirius admitted with a wink, "But I hear that it's a great deal like Quidditch."

"Now, that's the game I want to play!" The ten year old replied enthusiastically. "Do you know that Ginny Weasley of the Holyhead Harpies was in my house last night and I didn't even get to see her because I was grounded?"

"Well, do you know that I eat dinner with Ginny Weasley of the Holyhead Harpies a few times a week?"

"Really?" Matt asked in awe.

"Really," Sirius confirmed, feeling an odd sense of pride at being considered cool in a ten year old boy's eyes. "She is going to marry my godson and has become like a sister to me."

"She's awesome!" Matt exclaimed, shaking his head at the thought of being friends with Ginny Weasley. "She played for the Gryffindor Team at Hogwarts. I'm going to play for one of the House teams when I get to Hogwarts, too. Just like my dad."

"Your dad played Quidditch at Hogwarts?"

"No, not at Hogwarts." Matt corrected him, shaking his head. "He played for the Sweetwater All-Stars in America."

"Your father was from America?"

Sirius knew that he was on fragile ground, with both Matt and his mother, by talking about Artie Rhys and so he decided to tread carefully.

"I think so." The youngster mumbled, looking down at the floor. "I don't know too much about him, really."

"Oh." Sirius said simply, trying not to push. He was going to have to let Matt take the lead on this conversation.

The little boy was quiet for a moment and then he said, "It makes my mum sad to talk about him, I think. But my Aunt Katie says that my mum didn't know that much about him either."

"And why is that?"

"Aunt Katie said that they had a real whirlwind romance," Matt told him, wrinkling up his face like most boys do when talk turns to romance. "They met in the summer after she graduated from Hogwarts and got married around Christmas time." He paused and drew in a long breath and then added, "Eight months later my dad was dead."

"And you never knew him." Sirius added softly.

"I guess a lot of people never knew him." The kid said, taking another sip of his drink. "Aunt Tonks never even met him because she was off at Auror Training when my mom fell in love with him. But my mom and my aunts say that he was a really good guy and that is good enough for me."

"And that's all that matters."

"Right." Matt agreed matter of factly, and then said, "Mum used to tell me stories about him when I was little, but I think she ran out of stories after awhile because they didn't know each other that long." The boy paused again and then looked up at Sirius with sad eyes and said, "Some people think he was a Death Eater."

"What do you think?"

He was quiet again for a few long moments before he finally replied, "I don't think my mum would marry a Death Eater. I think she was smart enough to know that he wasn't really evil."

Sirius nodded in agreement and the two sat in silence as they ate their lunch. Finally, Matt broke the silence by asking, "Do you like Quidditch?"

"I like to watch it," Sirius told him with a wink. "But not play it. My best friend played and my brother played, but I preferred sitting in the stands with the girls."

Matt chuckled and said, "I wish Muggles played Quidditch. Or even knew what it was!"

The Auror smirked and reassured him, "But football is like Quidditch, so that gives you a pretty good head start."

"Except that I don't know how to fly." The boy muttered, shoving some more crisps into his mouth.

"Well, you're right, that is a pretty important part of playing Quidditch." Sirius replied, biting back his grin. "But you'll learn once you get to Hogwarts."

"But not in time to make the House Team in my first year."

"Most people don't make their House Team in their first year." Sirius reminded him gently.

"Harry Potter did."

"Yes, but…"

"And my mum was going to teach me to fly before I went to Hogwarts so that I could try out. She got me a broom and everything."

"But now you're grounded…"

"Right." Matt agreed with a firm shake of his head and the corners of his lips creased down into a frown. "Now I'm grounded."

"You know," Sirius began slowly and nonchalantly, "I gave Harry his first broom on his first birthday…"

"And he made the Gryffindor Team in his first year." Matt finished for him, his face falling even further. "See, it helps to know how to fly before you go to Hogwarts."

Sirius nodded his head in agreement and took a big bite of his sandwich. Matt was quiet again before he finally worked up the courage to ask, "Could you teach me how to fly sometime?"

The Auror looked down at him and asked with a chuckle, "Sure. When do you think your mum will let you out of the house again?"

"Probably not before I leave for Hogwarts." Matt muttered dejectedly, looking back down at his bag of chips.

"But," Sirius suggested slyly, "if you tell your mum why you started the food fight...maybe she'd let me take you over to the Burrow for some secret flying lessons."

The youngster seemed to be considering his suggestion for a moment, but then he shook his head and said, "I can't."

"Why not?"

"I just can't tell her."

"Is it that bad?" Sirius asked, wondering what could possibly be bad enough to cause this kid to willingly give up flying lessons. Matt nodded, so Sirius asked, "Why don't you tell me first? I was a ten year old wizard once with a strict mum and maybe I can..."

"If I can't tell her," Matt said, suddenly angry, "then why would I tell you?"

Padfoot wondered what nerve he had just struck inside this kid, so he took a minute to regroup. Trying again, he asked slowly, "It just seems like something you need to talk about and...well...I don't have the power to ground you. So, it's kind of safe to tell me...if you want to."

"You'll tell my mum." Matt accused, munching on another crisp.

"Well, actually...I don't know if you noticed this," Sirius told him with a smirk, "but your mum doesn't like me too much. So, we don't talk about anything but Ministry stuff."

Matt looked up in surprise and asked, "My mum doesn't like you? She likes everybody."

Sirius rolled his eyes and said, "Well, I guess I am just special..."

"Are you mean to her?" Matt asked, jumping from angry to surprised to protective so quickly that it immediately made Sirius think of Stacie's sudden mood shifts from their conversation that morning. "Because if you're mean to her, then I don't want to talk to you either."

The Animagus was impressed with Matt's loyalty to his mother and doubly impressed that Stacie didn't tell Matt about how much she disliked Sirius. After she found them in the lounge, Sirius was sure she would have told Matt to stay away from him.

"I'm not really mean to her." Sirius tried to explain. "We just don't agree on some things. And your mother..." He stopped and then changed his course by saying, "It's different with adults." Sirius paused again and then simply said, "But, I promise...if you ask me not to, I won't tell your mum what the fight was about."

Matt was silent again as he munched on his chips. Finally, he said quietly, "If you tell her, I'll hate you. I swear I will hate you."

"Okay." Sirius said, preparing himself for something big. "Now I know the consequences. And I definitely don't want you to hate me. So, I swear that I won't tell your mum. Your secret will never leave this pantry."

Matt looked up at his new friend again and studied his face, trying to decide whether or not to trust him. Something about the Auror must have convinced the boy because he took a deep breath and said, "Joel Hyatt is this kid at my school. He's not a nice guy and nobody really likes him. But all the fifth year guys sit at the same table at lunch, so he sits with us."

Sirius nodded as he silently wondered where this story was headed.

"Well, we were talking about this new girl at school when Joel suddenly looked up and said that the new girl might be pretty but that she had nothing on Matt Donovan's mum."

"The new girl had nothing on your mom?" Sirius repeated to show Matt that he was listening…and to be sure he had heard what he just thought he heard.

"Yeah," Matt mumbled, "He said that my mum was one hot babe."

"One hot babe?" Sirius tried to hide his surprise and bit back the laugh that was rumbling up within him. "What did you do?"

"My friend Alex and the guys told me to ignore him because he was just being a jerk."

"It sounds like you have smart friends." Padfoot said, suddenly proud of these unknown friends who were smart enough to stand by Matt.

"But he didn't stop." Matt protested. "Some of the other guys were listening to him now and he had an audience. So he kept on saying that my mum sure could fill out a pair of jeans and that if he had five minutes alone with her, he would…" The youngster let his voice trail off, but Sirius could figure out for himself how that sentence ended. Matt gritted his teeth and hissed, "He can't talk that way about my mum."

_Stacie Donovan raised one hell of a kid,_ Sirius thought to himself silently. Out loud, he asked, "Did you tell her that?"

"No!" Matt exclaimed, his eyes widening. "I can't tell her that."

"Why not?"

"Because she's my mum!" The ten year old looked up at his friend like he was crazy and added, "I can't say stuff like that to my mum!"

"Women like to be called babes." Sirius teased, trying to lighten the mood.

"By ten year olds?" Matt asked skeptically, raising his eyebrow at the Auror. And then he repeated fervently, "Nobody gets to talk about my mum like that."

"So…" Sirius prompted.

"Well, you can't ignore something like that, you know. You just don't talk about a guy's mum like that and expect to get away with it." Matt confessed quietly. "Maybe some people could ignore it, but I can't. I just had to do something."

"What did you do?"

"I just got so mad...I picked up my milk container and I threw it at him." Matt took another sip of his drink and then said, "And then I picked up a forkful of mashed potatoes I threw them at him, too. Then all the guys jumped in and started throwing food at him."

"And when did the punching begin?"

"After I threw the mashed potatoes." Matt told him. "I hit him right in the face and he had mashed potatoes all over him. Joel got really pissed and ran over and slugged me. And then all the guys jumped on him for hitting me, so I jumped into the pile too. I mean, they were defending me...so I should be in the middle of it, right?"

"Well..." Sirius hedged, trying not to grin. He knew he was going to be unsuccessful, so instead he asked, "What about the lip?"

"I really don't know who did that, like I told you." Matt answered. "It might have been one of my friends who kicked me in the mouth, but I don't want to get any of them in trouble...they were fighting because of me."

"Right." Sirius agreed with a nod.

"So, I can't tell my mum the real reason because she will feel bad." Matt concluded dejectedly, hanging his head again. "But she won't let me off grounding unless I tell her the whole story. And she'll know if I'm lying."

"I think your mum might be cooler about this than you might think." Sirius suggested, looking over at Matt. "I mean, if she knows you were fighting to defend her honor...women eat that stuff up."

"Not my mum." Matt disagreed with a shake of his head. "She doesn't like fighting of any kind. Which is kind of weird…since she is an Auror."

Padfoot let out a large sigh and the two guys sat in silence again. Finally Sirius asked, "Do you want me to try and talk to her?"

Matt was immediately back in protective mode again as he exclaimed, "You promised that..."

Sirius held up his hands in surrender as he explained, "I won't tell her about the reason for the fight. I'll just tell her that you and I talked about it and..."

"You said that she doesn't like you." Matt interrupted, looking at the older man skeptically. "Why would she believe you?"

"Maybe I could have Tonks talk to her instead."

"Aunt Tonks would definitely tell her what the fight was about." Matt informed him. "They have been friends since they were my age."

Sirius thought again and asked, "Does your mom have a boyfriend we could get to help us?"

Matt shook his head and said, "My mom hasn't had a boyfriend since my dad died."

"Oh." Sirius said, secretly pleased to hear that. "Well, maybe she would talk to me...if she knew it was about you."

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

The Auror looked at his young friend strangely and asked, "What does that have to do with anything?"

Matt shrugged and said, "If you don't have a girlfriend, maybe you could be her boyfriend. And then she would listen to you."

"She doesn't like me, remember?" Sirius reminded him, raising his eyebrow as he smirked.

"Oh yeah." Matt said, but looked up at Sirius with a strange expression on his face.

"What?" Sirius asked, not liking the look.

"Nothin'." Matt said with a grin. "How come you don't have a girlfriend?"

"Can we get back on topic?" The Animagus asked quickly. "We have to figure out a way to get you out of this."

"Get who out of what?"Sirius and Matt both turned at the sound of Stacie's voice when she suddenly appeared in the doorway.

"Hi, mum." Matt chirped, looking guiltily up at Sirius as they both wondered how much of the conversation she had overheard.

"Hi, son." Stacie drawled, recognizing the guilty look on her son's face. "What's going on in here?"

"I'm stocking the pantry shelves for the housekeeping witches." Matt replied and then gestured to Sirius as he added, "And Sirius brought me some lunch."

"Well, I guess we had the same idea." Stacie said, holding up the sandwich and juice she was carrying. Then looking down at what Sirius brought, she added dryly, "But I guess a tuna sandwich and apple juice is not much compared to cherry cola and crisps."

"I'm still hungry." Matt informed her, taking the sandwich and drink from his mother and hoping that she would turn around and leave after making her delivery.

But she didn't. Instead she stood there glaring at Sirius.

"He's working hard." The Auror informed his colleague. "So, I thought he needed a caffeine break. And I was on my lunch break, so..."

"What happened?" Stacie sneered. "There weren't any witches to play with, so you came down to talk to someone on your maturity level?"

"Something like that." Sirius replied with a smirk.

"He was just being nice to me, mum." Matt piped up, surprised to hear such nastiness coming from his mother.

"And talking to you about more 'guy stuff'?" Stacie asked. "Like plotting how to get Matt out of trouble?"

Both Matt and Sirius looked down at the floor and didn't answer. Stacie shook her head as she walked over to her son and tried again, "Matthew Rhys...I asked you a question."

"We were talking about Quidditch." Sirius supplied, hoping to help.

"I was asking him!" Stacie hissed, never turning to look at her colleague.

Matt looked up at his mother and said, "We _were_ talking about Quidditch. Did you know that Sirius was the one who gave Harry Potter his first broom?"

"No, I didn't." Stacie told him. "But I don't understand why..."

"We were trying to figure out when he could get in some flying practice…before he went off to Hogwarts." Sirius said again, not really lying to her.

Stacie looked over at Sirius with a curious expression and then back down at her son. She knew how much Matt wanted to learn to fly. "Did he offer to teach you?" Stacie asked Matt.

"Yes." Matt answered slowly. "But I told him that I was grounded."

Stacie pursed her lips and looked back down at her son before looking over at Sirius. But before she could say anything else, Kingsley's patronus glided into the room and requested her presence in the Minister's office. Looking down at it, she said, "Matty, I have to go and speak with the Minister of Magic. But, we'll talk about this some more on the way home...okay?"

"Okay." Matt mumbled.

She ruffled his hair and kissed the top of his head as she said, "Eat your lunch and then get back to work. I don't want you to get in any more trouble."

Matt nodded and Stacie left the pantry...without another word to Sirius.

When Matt looked up at him, Sirius grinned and said, "There may be some hope, yet. Your mom really loves you."

"Yeah," Matt muttered, shaking his head, "but she really can't stand you."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

_The next morning…_

"Cream, sugar, and a touch cinnamon...right?"

Stacie rolled her eyes as she glanced at the cup of coffee that had suddenly appeared on the desk next to her.

"Do you think you could wear a bell around your neck so that I will know when you are lurking around?" Stacie drawled, looking up at a smirking Sirius Black.

"I brought pumpkin pasties, too." Sirius said, holding up a pastry bag.

"Did Tonks tell you that those are my favorites, too?" she asked, raising her eyebrow at him.

"Nope." Sirius said, settling himself down on a stool across from her. "Matt did."

The Auror opened the bakery bag and handed her a pastry as she said, "So, is this going to be an everyday occurrence? Coffee and snacks? Because if it is...I have to learn to lock my office door."

"I'll just get one of those cute, little housekeeping witches to open it up for me." he returned, taking a sip of his own coffee. "Besides, I thought we called a truce."

Stacie shook her head and told him, "We did call a truce. But now, I am rethinking that decision."

"Why?"

"Because I don't know if I like this unholy alliance you are forming with my son." Stacie told him pointedly as she took a bite of her pastry.

"There's nothing unholy about it." He informed her, taking another sip of his coffee. "Matt's a good kid. I like him."

"I like him, too." Stacie said with a shrug. "It's you that I have the problem with."

"Really?" He asked sarcastically. "Because you are so good at hiding it."

Stacie gave him a pointed stare and then gestured to her coffee as she asked him, "So, what do you want this time?"

"To come over this weekend."

"Come over where?"

"To your flat."

Her sudden burst of laughter surprised Sirius, but it was nice to see her so amused. She was quite beautiful when she wasn't scowling at him.

"Are you joking?" Stacie asked as she recovered from her laughter. "I can't stand to see you here at the Ministry...what makes you think I am going to invite you to my home?"

"Because your son wants to learn how to fly." Sirius informed her smugly. "And you want him to learn how to fly. And, whether you like it or not, you know that I can teach him how to fly." He leaned on the counter and smiled innocently up at her as he asked, "So...should we say around 1:00 on Saturday?"

"Matt is grounded." Stacie reminded him. "So even if I agreed to let you teach him how to fly...Saturday at 1:00 is not a good time."

"About that..."

"About what?" Stacie asked, beginning to get irritated with him.

"About Matt being grounded..." Sirius began, trying to ease into this part of the conversation.

"Yes?"

"I think you should let him off the hook."

"Oh really?" Stacie asked, raising her eyebrow at him. "And why should I do that? So that this little flying lesson that you've planned can fit into your busy dating schedule? I don't think so."

"It has nothing to do with me or my schedule." Sirius told her calmly. "You should let Matt off the hook because he's a good kid who is in an impossible situation..."

"Are you calling me impossible?"

"No." Sirius reassured her. "I am calling the situation impossible."

"What situation would that be?"

"I can't tell you." He told her quietly, knowing that things were about to get a lot more complicated.

"You can't tell me?" Stacie asked incredulously. "I am his mother..."

"Which is exactly why I can't tell you." Sirius insisted. "Because you are his mother and there are some things that a ten year old boy can not tell his mother."

"But he can tell you?" she asked skeptically.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I am a guy."

"So this is more guy stuff?" Stacie sneered sarcastically.

"Sort of." Sirius said, shifting uncomfortably. "But trust me when I tell you that his reasons for starting the food fight are justified. Some might even call them honorable..."

"He told you why he started the food fight?" Stacie asked in surprise. "And you're not going to tell me?"

"No, I'm not."

"Why?"

"Because I promised him that I wouldn't."

"You promised him?" Stacie sputtered, the anger boiling up inside of her. "He's ten!"

"Stacie..."

"And I'm just supposed to trust you when you tell me that he had a good reason for starting that fight?" she interrupted, so angry that she could barely see straight. "Why the hell would I do that? Why would I trust you?"

"Because I am telling you that..."

"You are telling me squat!" Stacie shouted at him, not allowing him to finish. "You waltz in here and try to soften me up with coffee and pastry and then proceed to tell me that you know something about my son that I don't!? And I'm just supposed to trust you? You?! The man who tries to undermine me and my decisions every time he gets the chance?"

"This isn't about work. Or what goes on between us." Sirius said quietly, knowing that the conversation was only going to continue to get more difficult. "This is about Matt..."

"You are low." Stacie sneered at him. "I can't believe that you would use my ten year old son like this..."

"I'm not using Matt." Sirius told her firmly, beginning to get a little angry himself. "I would never do that to him."

"Then what the hell is going on here?" Stacie demanded. "First I find you talking to him in the lounge, and yesterday the two of you are having lunch in the pantry and talking about Quidditch like old friends. I don't understand what the hell you are trying to..."

"He's my friend."

"He's ten!" Stacie shouted at him. "He is a ten year old boy. Ten year old boys are not friends with forty year old Dark Wizard Catchers!"

"Sometimes they are." Sirius said evenly, trying to keep a tight reign on his temper. "Especially when those ten year old boys don't have a father figure around to..."

"Don't you dare!" Stacie hissed at him, stopping Sirius in his tracks. "Don't you dare say that to me! I will tolerate you second guessing my decisions here at the Ministry and I will forgive you for poking around in my files, but I will not stand here and let you criticize the way that I raise my son!"

Sirius simply stared at her for a moment and tried to figure out where he had gone wrong in this conversation. Obviously, he had hit too close to home with one of his comments and he never meant to do that. So, he tried to fix it by telling her quietly, "I would never do that. I would never criticize the way you are raising Matt."

Stacie was not prepared for the gentleness in his eyes or the softness of his tone as he said those words, so she turned away and tried to get control of herself.

"Matt is an amazing kid." Sirius continued softly, allowing her a few moments to compose herself. "He's smart and funny and friendly and compassionate and loyal...and he adores his mum. You did that. You raised him to be the amazing kid that he is. And I don't want to mess with that. I just want to help."

"Why?" Stacie asked quietly, most of her voice catching in her throat.

"I don't know." Sirius answered honestly. "There's just something about him. He's just trying to get through life under really unfair circumstances." Coming around the desk to stand closer to her, he added softly, "Being ten is hard. And being ten without a man around to talk to about things...like food fights and bullies in the cafeteria...is even harder. But I've been there. I know what he's going through and I can help. If you'll let me."

"But why you?" Stacie muttered, looking up at him.

Sirius smirked and said, "I was just in the right place at the right time, I guess."

Stacie moved away from him to sit in a nearby chair and as her shoulders sank in defeat, she asked, "Did he really have a good reason to start that fight? Was it because of that Joel what's-his-name?"

"I can't tell you that." Sirius said again, but this time with a smile. "But, believe me...Joel what's-his-name had it coming."

Stacie shook her head and admitted quietly, "I don't like not knowing things about my own kid."

"You know the stuff that's really important." Sirius reminded her. "This was just one food fight."

"I still don't like not knowing." Stacie repeated, looking up at him. "Was it about a girl? Because I don't think I'm ready for him and girls yet."

"I'm not going to tell you." Sirius said with a shake of his head. "I promised."

"Well, I have to admire your loyalty to him." she admitted. "Even if it is at my expense."

"Thank you."

"Sirius..." Stacie began, but stopped when she was unsure of what to say next.

"What?"

"It just..." she started again, picking up a framed photo of Matt's most recent school picture that was sitting nearby. "He's all I've got. And he's been through so much already."

"You both have." Sirius reminded her quietly.

"Yes, but I'm the grown-up." Stacie said with a sad smile. "I'm the mum. I'm supposed to be able to handle everything for him...protect him. Like I promised his father that I would." She took her eyes off the picture and looked up at him as she said, "It's not that easy for me to admit that I can't be everything that he needs me to be."

"I won't tell anyone." He promised softly.

"I still don't know if I like this." Stacie told him honestly. "I mean, you're not the most stable presence. You move along through life without a care in the world...now that the whole Azkaban thing is behind you. And that's fine for you. But when this little fascination that you have with Matt is over, you can't just leave him and move on to another project like you do with everything else. He can't go through that again."

Sirius remained silent as Stacie sighed and said, "But he chose you...for whatever reason. And I guess I have to go along with that." Looking pointedly at him again, she warned, "But you have to promise me that if he tells you something that I need to know...something life altering...then you have to tell me. Because even though you're his friend, I'm his mother."

"You're the mum." Sirius reassured her. "I promise."

Sirius and Stacie exchanged knowing looks and he even thought he saw the hint of a smile playing on her lips. Looking at her slyly, he asked, "So...Saturday at 1:00?"

Stacie inhaled deeply and then blew out her breath as she conceded, "Saturday at 1:00."

He grinned at her and began walking to the door of her office as he called back to her over his shoulder, "The trhee of us can go over to the Burrow. We'll be out of the sight of curious eyes and Molly will love having the company."

"Three of us?"

But Sirius was already out the door, leaving Stacie to mutter to herself, "What the hell am I getting myself into?"


	10. Chapter 10

_**Chapter Ten**_

_That evening..._

"What's for dinner, mum?"

"Spaghetti and meatballs." Stacie replied, smiling up at her son as he wandered into the kitchen of their flat. "With garlic bread and salad."

"With great-grandma's secret sauce?" Matt asked, nodding over to the big metal pot simmering on the stove.

"Can't you smell it?"

"Yum." The youngster said, licking his lips as he climbed up onto a stool across the counter from where Satcie was mixing up the meatballs. "I love spaghetti and meatballs."

"I know." His mother said with another smile. "Did you finish your homework?"

Matt nodded as he reached across the counter and grabbed a carrot that Stacie was going to cut up for the salad. "You just have to check my math."

"Did you study for your history test?" She asked, raising her eyebrow at him.

"Mr. Byrnes postponed it until next week." He informed her, munching on the carrot. "How come you're making dinner the old-fashioned way?"

Stacie shrugged and admitted, "I like to cook the Muggle way sometimes. It's relaxing after a long day at the Ministry. Do you want to help me with the meatballs?"

"I thought I was grounded."

"You are," Stacie assured him with a sly smile at his tactics. "But this house is very quiet when you're away in your room and I had a bad day at the Ministry, so I could use the company."

"OK...sure."

"Here," Stacie instructed, pushing the bowl of meat mixture across the counter to him, "you roll these into balls and I'll heat up the oil. Don't make them too big."

"I know!" Matt answered in his best know it all voice.

Stacie shook her head as she turned toward the stove and poured some oil into a fry pan. Turning back to Matt, who was completely engrossed in rolling a perfect ball of meat, she said quietly, "So, I had coffee with Sirius Black today."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." she answered, watching him closely. Matt didn't answer as he continued to roll the meatballs, so Stacie continued, "He thinks that I should let you off grounding so that he can teach you to fly."

"Really?" Matt asked, still concentrating on his meatballs.

"Really." Stacie answered. She could tell that he was trying to hide his excitement and she bit her lip to keep from grinning. She decided to play his game and turned back around to check on the temperature of the oil in the frying pan, not saying another word.

Finally, unable to help himself, Matt said, "Sirius Black is a smart guy. You should listen to him."

Shaking her head, Robin turned back around to look at him and said, "Don't play coy with me, little man. I know you talked to him about the food fight at lunch today."

"What did he say?" Matt asked in alarm, looking up at her with a worried expression.

"Don't worry." Stacie assured him. "He didn't tell me any of the secrets that you shared with him."

Robin watched the relief wash over him at her words as she took the meatballs that he had already rolled and began placing them in the hot oil. When she turned back around to look at him, she said, "But he did tell me that you had a very good reason for starting that food fight. Matt continued to stay silent as Stacie added, "And that you can't tell me the reason."

"Mum..." Matt started to say, but then stopped. He looked up at her and then simply said, "I just can't tell you."

"You can tell me anything, Matty."

"Not this." Matt assured her, shaking his head. "I can't tell you this. I would if I could...but I can't. I just can't." He looked up at her with worried eyes and asked, "Is that okay?"

_No,_ she screamed silently in her head. _It's not okay. You are my baby and I want to know everything that happens to you. I want to be able to protect you from the things you are too scared to tell me and I want to be able to make everything alright again. That's my job._

But out loud, she said...

"Sure, it's okay."

But Matt Donovan was a ten year old who was older and wiser than his years. And he knew his mother better than anyone.

"Are you mad that I talked to Sirius?"

"No." His mother lied with a forced smile on her face. "I'm glad that you had someone to talk to."

"Really?"

She turned around to turn the meatballs over in the frying pan and admitted, "No, not really."

Taking a deep breath and turning back around, she looked at him with gentle eyes and said, "But I do understand that you are getting to an age where you need to talk about 'guy stuff' and that's not always easy to do with your mother. So I am going to try to be okay with you talking to Sirius...as long as you remember that I will always love you and that I am always here for you. And nothing that you tell me is ever going to change that."

"Okay." Matt said, looking up at her. "And just because I'm talking to him doesn't mean that I don't love you anymore. Some things are just...easier...to say to him."

"Are you afraid that I will get mad at you?" Stacie asked, watching him.

"No." He answered, rolling another meatball. "It's just..." He looked up at her and shrugged, "I don't know. I can't explain it."

The Auror watched him for another minute before she finally said, "Okay, then I won't make you explain it. But if you are in any kind of trouble, then I want you to make sure you tell me..."

"I will." Matt assured her. Then looking up at her hopefully, he asked, "Am I still grounded?"

Stacie smiled at him and said, "Until Saturday at 1:00."

"What's happening on Saturday at 1:00?"

"Sirius is coming over to teach you how to fly."

A huge smile came over Matt's face as he said, "Thanks, mum!"

Stacie smiled back and took the remaining meatballs from him as she said, "But no more food fights. And no more solving your problems by throwing mashed potatoes or hitting people. Promise?"

"I promise."

"And if you are having problems at school that you need to talk about..." Stacie said automatically and then stopped herself. Thinking for a minute, she finished, "...then I want you to find someone to talk to about it with. Me, Aunt Katie, Grandpa...someone."

"What about Sirius?" Matt suggested.

"You barely know Sirius Black." Stacie told him, wishing she could talk him out of this new friendship.

"Why don't you like him?"

Stacie was busy transferring the meatballs from the frying pan into the pot of sauce to finish cooking, so she didn't answer right away. When she was finished, she turned to look at him and said, "I don't know. We just didn't get off on the right foot."

"But he's nice to me." Matt reminded her. "And he's Harry Potter's godfather. I thought Harry was your friend."

"He is." Stacie said with a smile, putting the new batch of meatballs into the frying pan. "But Sirius is not Harry Potter. They may be godfather and godson...but they are two very different men."

"Is he mean to you?" Matt asked, moving to the sink to wash the meatball mixture off of his hands. "Because if he is, then I won't talk to him anymore."

"He's not really mean to me." Stacie tried to explain. "We just see things differently. He thinks he's right and I think I'm right...and we can never seem to agree."

"Is that why you were mean to him today?"

"I wasn't mean to him today." Stacie said in surprise, looking down at her son. "Was I?"

"Kind of." Matt informed her.

"Well, I'll try not to be mean to him when he comes on Saturday." Stacie promised. "Since he is your friend."

"Thanks."

Matt finished washing his hands and then watched as his mother filled up a pot of water for the spaghetti. As she added salt to the water and turned on the burner, he said, "He could be your friend, too."

"Who?" Stacie asked, distracted by the spaghetti pot.

"Sirius Black." Matt reminded her. "He's a good friend."

"I already have good friends." Stacie told her son. "I don't need any more."

"Well, then he can be your boyfriend." Matt responded. "You don't have one of those."

Stacie put the lid on the pot of pasta water and looked down at Matt as she asked, "Now why would you say something like that?"

"Don't you want a boyfriend?" He asked innocently.

"I haven't really thought about it." Stacie told him honestly, moving over to the oven to set the broiler. Then looking down at him, she asked, "Would that be weird for you? If I had a boyfriend?"

"No." Matt told her honestly. "I think I'd like it."

"Why?"

"Because it would make you happy." He said nonchalantly. "Aunt Lindsay is happy with her new boyfriend Jasper and Aunt Katie is happy because she is getting married to Dillon and Grandma is happy with Grandpa. So maybe a boyfriend would make you happy, too."

"I'm not unhappy, Matty." Stacie told him gently.

"I know." he replied with a shrug. "But boyfriends take you out to dinner and the movies and to parties where you get all dressed up. Don't you like doing that stuff?"

"I can do all that stuff with my friends." she told him, looking at him curiously as she took some vegetables out of the refrigerator for a salad. "And with you." Setting the salad ingredients on the counter, she asked, "Where is all this coming from?"

Matt shrugged and said, "I don't know. But I know Sirius doesn't have a girlfriend and you don't have a boyfriend. So maybe you should be boyfriend and girlfriend together."

"It doesn't work that way, sweetie." Stacie told him with a smile. "You don't become someone's girlfriend just because they don't have one. You have to like each other and have things in common."

"You and Sirius are both Aurors." he reminded her. "You have that in common."

"Sirius Black is not going to be my boyfriend...case closed." Stacie told him, taking out a knife to cut up the vegetables. "Now drop it."

Matt shrugged and grabbed another carrot off the counter as he climbed back up onto the stool to watch his mother chop vegetables. After a while, he asked, "Did you know that Sirius gave Harry Potter his first broom?"

"You told me." Stacie said with a smile.

"And he has dinner with Ginny Weasley all the time…when she's not playing for the Holyhead Harpies." Matt added, clearly impressed.

"Impressive." she drawled, peeling the outer skin off a cucumber. "What else did the two of you talk about?"

"Quidditch." he informed her, chomping down on his carrot. "His brother and his best friend played at Hogwarts, but he liked watching. That's when I told him that dad had played for the Sweetwater All-Stars."

"You told him that your dad played Quidditch?" Stacie asked in surprise. Carefully, she asked, "And what else did you tell him?"

"I told him that some people thought dad was a Death Eater."

Stacie put down her chopping knife and looked at him as she said, "Wow. That was a big step for you."

"Yeah." he replied, looking down at the counter. "I didn't have to tell him...I mean, he didn't ask what dad died of. I just kind of told him."

"Why do you think you did that?" Stacie asked. "Because you don't normally talk about your dad's death with people you don't know."

Matt shrugged and said, "He was being nice to me. And he told me about his brother, so I told him about my dad." He finally looked up at her and said, "And he spent a lot of time in prison for something he didn't do, so he knows about people thinking you're something that you're really not. I didn't think he would be mean to me about it."

"And he wasn't mean, was he?" she asked softly, willing the tears not to come into her eyes.

Matt shook his head and added, "He asked me if I thought dad was a Death Eater and I told him that I didn't. And he kept talking to me after that. Sometimes wizards stop talking to me after they learn that I am Artie Rhys' son."

"That was really nice of him." Stacie whispered, realizing that she meant it. "Is that why you told him about the food fight?"

"Yeah." Matt admitted. "It just kind of came out, too. We were talking about Quidditch and he told me that if I told you about the food fight then he might be able to teach me how to fly. But then I told him that I couldn't tell you and he asked me to tell him instead so that he could talk to you about it."

"So, he tried to get you to tell me about the food fight?" Stacie asked, a little surprised by that bit of information.

"Yeah." Matt said again. "He said you might be cooler about it than I thought, but I told him that I couldn't tell you. That's when he offered to talk to you for me."

Stacie nodded and went back to chopping her salad ingredients, wondering just exactly who the real Sirius Black was. Was he the arrogant playboy wizard who undermined her Ministry decisions? Or was he the understanding friend who brought her son lunch in a pantry?

Before she could think anymore about it, Matt asked suddenly, "Is that why you don't have a boyfriend?"

"Are we back to that?" she asked him dismissively.

But Matt was not easily dismissed as he said, "Yes. So, is that why?"

"Is what why?"

"Do wizards stop talking to you when they find out you were married to Artie Rhys like some of them stop talking to me when they find out I am his son?"

Stacie moved over to the stove to stir the sauce and when she came back to the counter, she admitted quietly, "Sometimes."

"Sirius knows that you were married to dad and he still talks to you." Matt said slyly. "He brought you coffee today."

"And pumpkin pasties." Stacie added, giving him a knowing look.

"I told him that." The little boy said with a grin. "He wanted to know what sweets you liked. So, doesn't that prove he likes you?"

"No." Stacie told him stubbornly. "It proves that he likes you. He brought me the pastry so that he could talk to me about your grounding."

"But he.."

"Matthew!" Stacie said in exasperation. "I am glad that Sirius Black is your friend and I am glad that you can talk to him about things. But he is not going to be my boyfriend! Now let's talk about something else."

"Okay." Matt muttered, but smiled secretly to himself because a plan was already forming inside his head. And neither his mother or Sirius Black were going to know what hit them.


	11. Chapter 11

**_Well, I haven't had a cliffhanger chapter yet in this fic...so I thought it was finally time! But those of you have been paying attention will be able to figure this one out in no time!_**

**_Enjoy..._**

**

* * *

**

Chapter Eleven

_Saturday, around 1 o'clock..._

"Is he here yet?"

Stacie shook her head as she told her son for the millionth time that day, "I told you that I would tell you when he gets here."

"And you're not going to be mean to him today, right?" Matt called down the hall of the Donovan flat. "You promised."

"I will be on my best behavior." Stacie promised, calling back to him as she opened up the broom closet and pulled out the vacuum cleaner.

A few minutes later, she heard the rumblings of Matt's feet as he tromped down the hall from his bedroom. When he appeared in the living room, Stacie looked him over and asked skeptically, "Don't you think you are a little overdressed for flying lessons?"

Matt looked down at his cargo pants, t-shirt, and camp shirt and then looked back at his mother and replied, "I thought we could go to Diagon Alley afterwards and get something to eat." Eyeing her, he added, "All of us."

"I'm sure that Molly Weasley will have something you can snack on after your lesson." Robin informed her son as she flicked her wand and began moving furniture around the family room so that she could vacuum.

"No offense to Mrs. Weasley, but I don't want something to snack on. I want us to go to Diagon Alley." Matt told her stubbornly. He watched her for a minute and then asked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm cleaning."

"Why?"

"It's Saturday." Stacie told him with a smirk. "I always clean the flat on Saturday."

"But Sirius is coming." Matt whined.

"He's coming to see you, not me." she reminded him.

"But aren't you going to come to the Burrow with us?"

"No." she answered him distractedly. "I already know how to fly. And, I have to clean the house."

"But you could watch me learn how to fly." Matt persisted.

"You can show me what you learned when you get home."

"But mum, we…."

"Matthew!" Stacie cried in exasperation. "Stop with the nonsense! I have a lot to do today."

He was quiet for a minute before he scrunched up his nose and asked, "Are you going to wear that?"

Stacie looked down at her own outfit of a gray Oxford sweatshirt and navy blue sweatpants and then told him, "I always wear my old sweats to clean the house. They're comfortable and I don't mind getting them dirty."

"Yeah, but..." Matt said, "...you look better in your jeans and that red shirt. And with your hair down and not in a ponytail..."

"This isn't a fashion show." Stacie told him sharply, as she flicked her wand again to plug in the vacuum cleaner. "I'm not getting dressed up to clean the house just because Sirius Black is coming over. He's not coming over to see me."

"But if we go to Diagon Alley..."

"We're not going to Diagon Alley." she informed him firmly.

"But it would be a nice thing to do!" he told her desperately. His mother was not going along with his plans at all. "To thank him for coming over and teaching me how to fly."

"We'll send him a card." Stacie drawled. "Now go upstairs and change into your jeans. Those are school clothes and you can't wear them to play outside."

"Mum!"

"Matt!" Stacie shot back at him, teasingly.

He checked the clock on the wall and noticed that it was a few minutes past 1 o'clock. Looking at his mother skeptically, he asked, "Are you sure you gave him good directions?"

"Yes, Matthew." Stacie answered. "I do know how to get to our house, you know. He probably got distracted while doing his hair. Now, scoot...I have to vacuum this room and you have to change."

Matt scowled at his mother and her uncooperative attitude one last time before he went back to his room to change into his play clothes. He was going to have to figure out a way to get her and Sirius together before the day was over and she wasn't making things easy for him. Stacie, meanwhile, turned on the vacuum cleaner and began running it along the floor in the family room. She had almost finished the entire room when she was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. Turning off the vacuum, the Auror moved to the front door and opened it up to reveal a smirking Sirius Black standing out on her front stoop.

"Well, I hope you didn't dress up on my account." He greeted her sarcastically, looking over her outfit as she stepped aside to let him into her house.

"Look," Stacie told him, leading him back to the kitchen, "I promised Matty that I wouldn't be mean to you today...so don't provoke me and make me break that promise."

"Okay." Sirius said agreeably, as his eyes scanned the comfortable surroundings of Matt and Stacie's home. "This is a nice place."

"Thank you." Stacie said, moving into the kitchen. "Matt should be right out...he's just changing his clothes. Would you like something to drink?"

"No thanks." He replied, continuing with the niceties.

Stacie poured herself some lemonade and told him, "He's really looking forward to this. So, thanks for giving up part of your Saturday for him."

He wasn't expecting the sincerity in her voice, so he returned her smile and said, "I'm looking forward to it, too. I haven't done too much flying that wasn't on my bike in a long time. And I like hanging out with Matt."

"Yeah, about that..." Stacie said, glancing up the hall to see if her son was within hearing distance. "I need to talk to you about this little friendship that the two of you are building."

"I know that you are concerned about someone my age hanging out with your son." Sirius told her. "But Matt is no ordinary ten year old kid."

"Which is exactly why him being friends with someone like you concerns me." Stacie told him quietly.

"Meaning?"

"It means that his life is complicated." Stacie told him. "He grew up without a father and he knows more about death and grief and pain than any kid his age should ever know." She glanced again down the hall as she continued, "He knows that his home life is different from all of his friends lives because I chose to raise him as a Muggle and he knows that in one year everything is going to change when he goes off to Hogwarts to fully learn about the wizarding world that he is a part of. A world where some people believe that his father was a servant of the Dark Lord who was killed trying to destroy your godson. A world his mother goes out every day to protect from the very Death Eaters that some believe his father was assosciated with. That is his life, Sirius, and I can't protect him from that..."

"So you try to protect him from people like me instead?" He asked, raising his eyebrow at her.

"He needs stability, Sirius." Staci answered. "He needs to know that the people who love him are always going to be there for him...even if I'm not. You're not stable. He has had enough of that in his life already."

"So, what are you asking me for?" Sirius asked, a little insulted by her comments. "A lifetime commitment? We're just learning to fly."

"Today." Stacie reminded him. "Today is just about flying. But he can get attached to you very easily...if he hasn't already." She looked down at the floor and said, "You've been really nice to him and I appreciate that. But, your lifestyle doesn't really leave you a lot of room for a friendship with a ten year old boy. And I just don't want him to get his hopes up if you're not going to follow through..."

"I understand." Sirius interrupted, his voice very reassuring. "But, don't worry about it. I'm..."

"I do worry about it."

"I know." He said gently. "But I'm not going to do anything to hurt Matt. Whether you believe me or not, I really like the kid." Winking at her, he added teasingly, "And his mother is starting to grow on me, too."

Stacie smiled through her worry and shook her head as Matt's feet were heard coming down the hall.

"Hey, Sirius!" The ten year old called, "Are you ready to go?"

"I'm ready, sport." Sirius said with a grin. "But it looks like your mum is going to need a few minutes to change."

"I'm not going."

"She's not going."

The mother and son answered at the same time, causing Sirius to smirk at the pair. Turning to Stacie, he asked, "Why aren't you going?"

"I have a lot to do today." she told him smugly. "And I already know how to fly."

"But I already told Molly that you were coming along with us." Sirius informed her, leaning on the counter. "She's quite anxious to meet you. Apparently she has head good things from Arthur, Ginny, Ron, and Charlie, although I can't imagine what they could be…"

"Ginny came around for dinner the other night," Stacie interrupted, eyeing him warily. "Arthur is one of the few wizards who fully supports and is fascinated my decision to raise Matt as a Muggle. And Charlie and I went to Hogwarts together."

"And Ron?"

"Ron likes everyone."

"Well, if you insult his mother by not showing up he may not like you anymore." Sirius countered, crossing his arms over his chest and raising his eyebrow at her. "And if I know Molly, she has spent all morning getting ready for our arrival and…"

"I'm not the one who told you to tell her that I was coming along!"

"But, alas," The Animagus drawled, "I did."

Stacie drew in a deep breath and glared at Sirius before turning her eyes on her son. Matt grinned up at her triumphantly as Stacie silently cursed Sirius Black for putting her in this position. Finally, she declared, "Fine…I'll go. But only as a courtesy to Mrs. Weasley." Heading out into the hallway toward her bedroom, she said, "Just give me a few minutes to get ready."

Matt grinned up at his new friend as his mother left the kitchen and said, "My mum's pretty cool. For a girl."

"Oh yeah?"

"Don't you think she's cool?"

Sirius thought for a minute and then agreed, "She's very cool." He grinned and added, "For a girl."

"And she's pretty, too." Matt added. "She's cool and she's pretty."

"That's a very good combination." Sirius told him with a smile. "You're a lucky kid."

"And you're both Aurors. So you have a lot in common." He looked down at the counter and added, "I bet you have other stuff in common, too."

"Like what?"

Matt shrugged and said, "I don't know...sports? Do you like football?"

"I told you that I don't know too much about Muggle sports."

"Oh yeah." Matt mumbled. He thought for a minute and asked, "Do you like spaghetti and meatballs?"

"Yes." Sirius replied, raising his eyebrow at him and wondering where this conversation was headed. "Why?"

"Because my mom cooks really good spaghetti and meatballs!" he told him. "She cooks lots of good stuff. She's a good cook." He motioned for Sirius to follow him into the living room and added, "Maybe you could come over for dinner sometime and she could cook for you."

"Maybe."

"Like tonight?" Matt asked hopefully.

"Sorry, buddy." Sirius told him. "I have a date tonight."

Matt's face fell as he stopped dead in his tracks and asked, "But I thought you said you don't have a girlfriend!"

"I don't." Sirius replied with a grin, almost running into Matt as he followed him into the living room. "I have a couple of them."

"More than one girlfriend?" Matt asked incredulously. "Are they prettier than my mum?"

Suddenly realizing where Matt was going with this conversation, Sirius asked, "Matt, are you trying to set me up with your mum?"

"No." He replied, looking down and kicking at the living room carpet with his shoe. Then, looking up at Sirius, he added, "Maybe."

Sirius laughed and said, "Matt, your mom doesn't really like me that much..."

"She does like you!" Matt protested. "She thinks it's really nice that you are talking to me about stuff."

"Well, that's good." Sirius replied. "But we..."

"You said that you think she's pretty." Matt reminded him. "And that's she's cool and you have some things in common. So, why don't you just let her be one of your girlfriends?"

"Matt," Sirius said quietly, walking toward him, "your mum is not the kind of lady who wants to be _'one of my girlfriends'_. She probably wants to be someone's only girlfriend..."

"So, get rid of the rest of your girlfriends." Matt suggested. "And then my mum will be the only one."

But before Sirius could say anything else, he stopped cold and simply stared at the photograph sitting on the table next to Matt and Stacie's sofa. Moving across the room and picking up the frame, he couldn't take his eyes off of the couple in the photograph.

"Doesn't my mum look pretty in that picture?" Matt asked, watching as Sirius continued to look at the photo. "That was over ten years ago…just after she found out that she was pregnant with me."

"Who…" Sirius began to ask, but he felt his voice crack and give out on him. Trying to steady himself, he tried again and asked, "Who is the man in the photograph, Matt?"

"That's my dad." The ten year old answered proudly. "My mum says it's the only family photograph we have…even though I wasn't really there with them, I was in her tummy at the time."

But Sirius didn't hear Matt's little story. Swearing under his breath, he clutched the photograph and stormed angrily down the hall toward Stacie's bedroom.


	12. Chapter 12

**I apologize for such a long delay. Life got in the way of fanfiction! I honestly didn't mean to leave you hanging on a cliffhanger for that long! I hope this makes up for it!**

* * *

_**Chapter Twelve **_

"Alohomora!"

Stacie, naked to the waist, turned around quickly when the door to her bedroom blew open. Grabbing a sweater to cover her, she glared at a very angry Sirius Black and hissed, "What do you think you are doing?"

"I was just about to ask you the same question!" he bellowed, charging into the room with his eyes flashing fire. "What kind of game do you think you are playing?"

"Game?" she fired back, alarmingly aware of his presence in her bedroom, "You are the one who stormed into my bedroom with my son down the hall!"

"Don't flatter yourself, lady."

"Then would you mind getting out so that I can finished getting dressed?"

"Not until you explain this!" He shoved the photo from the living room out to her.

Confused, Stacie asked angrily, "Explain what?"

"That photo!"

"It's my family." she told him matter of factly, coming to terms with the fact that he was not leaving her bedroom. Turning away from him, Stacie pulled her bathrobe on over her jeans and turned back to face him. "What does it matter to you?"

"Is this a joke?" he demanded, running a hand through his hair. "Are you running some sort of a scam on me? Trying to get at my family's money or something?"

"Scam?" she echoed, narrowing her eyes at him. "If you remember correctly, I didn't even want you to come here today…let alone be part of my son's life. Why am suddenly the bad guy?"

"Is Tonks in on this?" Sirius asked as if he hadn't heard her answer, "Are the two of you having some giant laugh at my expense?"

"In on what?" Stacie shouted, completely fed up with the whole confusing conversation. Grabbing her picture back from him she asked again, "What the hell is going on here?"

"That's what I want to know!"

"Well, I can assure you that I have no idea!"

Storming across the room until he was so dangerously close to her that she could feel his warm breath on her cheek, Sirius grabbed her shoulders and was on the verge of shaking her as he asked, "You expect me to believe that you had no idea that Matt is my nephew?"

Even if Stacie knew what to say to him at that moment, she wasn't sure that she would be able to get her lips to physically move to actually form the words. Staring at him in shock, her eyes widened first in surprise and then in confusion and finally in fear.

"What did you say?" she whispered hoarsely when her powers of speech finally returned.

Watching her reaction closely, Sirius stepped away from her and removed his hands from her shoulders as he repeated, "Why didn't you tell me that Matt was my nephew?"

He wasn't sure what he was expecting to happen next, but Sirius was caught completely off guard when Stacie's eyes filled with tears and she hissed, "We went over this already. Matt is not your brother's son. Why would you keep saying such a thing?"

Picking up the picture from the floor where she had dropped it when he approached her, he looked down at the smiling couple and asked, "Is this Matt's father?"

Stacie nodded, grabbing the picture from him and cradling it to her body as if it could protect her from what she was afraid was about to happen. Looking her straight in the eye and without any hesitation, Sirius told her flatly, "The man in that picture is my brother…Regulus Black."

"NO!" Stacie responded immediately, shaking her head and backing away from him. "No, the man in this picture…my husband…was named Artie Rhys and he…"

"What was his full name?" Sirius interrupted, watching her closely.

"What?" she asked in confusion. "Why?"

He could tell from the tone of her voice and the look in her eyes that she was not lying. She had no idea what he was talking about.

"Please," Sirius said quietly, "just tell me his full, given name."

"Arcturus Rhys." Stacie told him and watched as he sighed and slumped down on her bed. "What?"

"My brother's name was Regulus **Arcturus** Black," Sirius informed her, looking down at the photograph once again. "And his best friend as a child was named **Rhys** Caldwell…"

"It's just a coincidence." Stacie interrupted, pulling her robe tighter around her. "It's just a…"

"How many people have you met in your lifetime named Arcturus?"

"No." Stacie said again. "There is an explanation for the similarities and…"

"Mum?"

Both Sirius and Stacie snapped their heads around when Matt suddenly appeared in the doorway, looking concerned. Taking a quick look at his mother's face and the bathrobe she had thrown on over her jeans coupled with Sirius sitting on his mother's bed, he narrowed his eyes and asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, sweetie." Stacie reassured him, moving around the bed and coming to meet him in the doorway. "Sirius and I are just discussing a case from work…"

"He suddenly got really angry and came rushing down here to your room…"

"It's fine." Stacie reassured him again. "Sirius and I are very passionate about our work and sometimes when we disagree on things, we argue. But it is nothing for you to worry about."

Eyeing Sirius warily, Matt asked, "Are you sure?"

"It's just work stuff, sweetie." She lied, cringing inwardly. "We'll be done in a few minutes and then we'll go flying. Okay?"

Matt looked up at her skeptically, but recognized the look on his mother's face as one that meant he shouldn't argue with her. Reluctantly, he turned around and headed back down the hall to the living room. As soon as he was gone, Stacie closed the door and performed an Imperturbable Charm so that he couldn't hear any more of their conversation.

"He has a right to know what is going on." Sirius told her pointedly, never moving from his spot on the bed.

"I don't even know what is going on right now, so nobody will be telling him anything about your theories until I have had…"

"They're not theories," Sirius interrupted quietly. "This is my brother."

"He may look like your brother, but…"

"Think about it, Stacie." He said, finally standing up and looking at her. "How well did you know your husband before your married him?"

"I knew him well enough to know his name!" she shouted, refusing to believe his words.

"When Regulus left the Death Eaters, he was in great danger." Sirius told her quietly. "It is not so hard to believe that he would change his name and alter his appearance so that he could hide out from the Dark Lord in plain sight. He was a very powerful wizard and many people wanted him dead." Stacie shook her head at his reasoning, so Sirius took another step in her direction. "Matt told me that you did not know too much about your husband when you married him and that you weren't together very long before his death. But I have known my brother since the day he was born and I swear to you that the man in this picture is Regulus Black."

"I don't believe you." Stacie whispered, her eyes filling with tears again. "I can't believe you."

Sirius closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head before he opened them again and asked, "How did you learn of your husband's death?"

"His house-elf found me in New York and informed me."

"House-elf?" Sirius asked, a plan suddenly forming in his brain. When Stacie nodded, Sirius muttered something under his breath and suddenly a loud "CRACK" was heard in the bedroom as a grumpy house-elf appeared in front of them.

"Kreacher?" Stacie asked in astonishment as the creature in question looked up at her.

"Mistress Anastasia." The old house elf croaked, looking up at his former mistress in surprise.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded, looking from Sirius back down to Kreacher. "I haven't seen you since Artie died."

"My master called me, mistress."

"Master?" Looking back up at Sirius, who was giving her a knowing look, Stacie's eyes widened as she asked, "You serve the House of Black?"

"For decades." Sirius informed her before Kreacher could speak. "Since my brother and I were boys." Looking down at the house-elf, Sirius commanded, "Kreacher, tell Mistress Anastasia the true identity of your former master, Arcturus Rhys."

Kreacher hesitated for a moment before he looked up at Sirius and said, "Master Regulus said that she was never to know…"

Sirius closed his eyes again briefly as he heard Stacie inhale sharply. He caught her elbow as she lost her footing and stumbled forward. Catching her up in his arms, he whispered, "I'm sorry, Stacie. But you know that house-elves can not lie to their master's. Your husband was indeed my brother, Regulus Black."

Suddenly stiffening in his arms, Stacie pushed away from his comforting embrace and moved away from him. Backing away from her newly found brother-in-law in horror, Stacie turned to look at Kreacher and then commanded him to tell her, "Why did he lie to me? Kreacher, why did he not tell me the truth about who he was!"

Kreacher was silent until Sirius sharply said, "Tell her."

Sighing heavily, Kreacher began, "Master Regulus risked his life when he left Lord Voldemort's service…"

"Why did he?" Stacie demanded, and Sirius nodded to Kreacher from behind her.

"Master Regulus saw things while in the Dark Lord's service that he did not agree with, though he did not confide to me what those things were. He began having second thoughts about joining the Death Eaters." Kreacher informed them, pausing only briefly to take a breath. "When he found out that Lord Voldemort had stored part of his soul within a Horcrux, Regulus set out to destroy it so that the Dark Lord could one day be defeated."

"Which means that Regulus was instrumental in helping Harry defeat Voldemort," Sirius chimed in quietly from his place in the corner. "Without Regulus' forethought, Harry might never have been able to kill Voldemort because part of his soul would still be contained in the Horcrux…and he would have remained immortal. My brother…your husband…was a hero."

Ignoring his master's interruption, Kreacher continued, "Soon after, Master Regulus met the fair Mistress Anastasia. He was enchanted by you and fell in love in an instant. But he knew that changing his name and slightly altering his appearance would only stave off the Dark Lord for so long. When he found out that Master Matthew had been conceived, Master Regulus decided to send you to the America's for protection…knowing that the Dark Lord would seek to hurt him first through his wife and son. He sent me back to The House of Black so that I could not be used to connect any Death Eaters to you."

"But you came to me to tell me about Artie's…I mean Regulus'…death."

"It was his final commandment to me." Kreacher told her, this time not needing any encouragement from Sirius. "To tell you that he loved you and that he would always be with you."

Allowing a single tear to spill out onto her cheek, Stacie asked in a rough voice, "You were there? When he died?"

"He saved me, Mistress Anastasia." Kreacher told her with as much gentleness as he could muster.

Sitting up on the bed again with her back still to Sirius, she whispered, "Thank you, Kreacher."

When Kreacher apparated back to Grimmauld Place, the silence that engulfed Stacie's bedroom was almost more to bear than the information she had just learned. So, with as much pride as she could muster, Stacie said, "So, I guess he was a Death Eater after all."

"No," Sirius disagreed, coming around to sit next to her on the bed, "he was not. Like so many others, Regulus was attracted to the Dark Side, but the reality of what it meant was way too much to handle. He was, in the end, exactly who you thought he was…a good man. Better than I ever gave him credit for."

Blinking back more tears, she looked up at Sirius and asked quietly, "What do we do now?"

"The only thing we can do," Sirius informed her with a kind smile. "We take my nephew to the Burrow for his first flying lesson."


End file.
